Live updates: Runners enjoy post-race party after finishing Quad-City Timex Bix 7

A week of events, including the Bechtel Trusts Senior Bix and the Arconic Junior Bix, led up to this morning, when thousands of runners will take off on the 7-mile course. 

Follow along here for live updates from race day. 

A little humid, but a great day

Linda Powers, 71, had a pleasant run before enjoying the after-party Saturday morning.

“It was humid, but it was great,” she said. “No sun, a little humidity. The river was sucking you down Brady.”

The Davenport resident wore a star-spangled running outfit for her 40th race, saying she has done so ever since the Bix held a patriotic-themed race week years ago.

“My family is very military,” she said.

While she feels like the race has fluctuated in popularity, she said she enjoys the experience and the effort put into making the event happen.

Nathan McCarty runs Bix day after getting engaged

Fresh off his engagement Friday, 36-year-old Bix 7 runner and Davenport resident Nathan McCarty wore a pirate hat during the race Saturday morning.

“I wear it every year, just because there needs to be a pirate running,” he said.

McCarty said he has ran the Bix 7 a handful of times in 15 years; each time, he said he challenges himself to a drinking challenge each year. This year, he hit nine drinks downed while in motion on the track.

He said he enjoys the race for a variety of reasons; chiefly, though, because of the people and traditions along the way.

“Obviously the community, Chick-fil-A sandwiches and all the people who like pirates that say ‘Argh’ along the way,” he said.

Bix brings people together

9:15 a.m. | Michael Winter, 66, of Rock Island, said the Bix 7 is a great way to meet friends, like 60-year-old Milan resident Cory DeLong. Both were preparing to run the footrace as runners lined up Saturday morning.

Both ran the Bechtel Trust Senior Bix earlier this week, with Winter — who has run the race for 41 years — calling Bix week an opportunity to build community.

“Just meeting friends, it's kind of a reunion time,” he said.

DeLong has run the race 17 times; originally from Kentucky, he said the spirit of Bix week is comparable to the Kentucky Derby.

“The whole thing, it's like an energy,” he said. “It follows it the whole week, and the same thing with the Derby.”

Winter said one thing that stands out to him over his 41-year career in the Bix is that, in recent years, he has seen a greater influx of young people involved in the race, both running and spectating, and that new additions are keeping the week fresh.

Mohammed El Youssfi, Everlyn Kemboi win

9 a.m. | Mohammed El Youssfi became the second runner from Morocco to win the championship of the Professional Road Runners Organization in Davenport when he raced to victory Saturday in the 52^nd Quad-City Times Bix 7.

El Youssfi’s victory came on his 29^th birthday and gave him a payday of $22,500 — the Bix 7 first prize of $12,500 plus a $10,000 super bonus for winning the PRRO circuit.

The Bix 7 served as the championship race for the PRRO circuit only one other time, in 1997, and that race was won by Khalid Khannouchi of Morocco. Khannouchi’s victory occurred the day after El Youssfi was born.

It was the fourth major road racing win of the year for El Youssfi, who also crossed the finish line first in the Pittsburgh Half-marathon, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler and the Gate River Run 15k. His wins at Cherry Blossom and Gate River qualified him for the PRRO super bonus.

Everlyn Kemboi capitalized on her experience in last year’s Quad-City Times Bix 7 to win the 52^nd episode of the race on Saturday.

The 30-year-old native of Kenya made her Bix 7 debut last year and recorded a solid fourth-place finish.

The victory continued a solid season for Kemboi, who has finished second in the Pittsburgh Half-marathon and San Blas Half-marathon, third in the Gate River Run 15k, fourth in the Utica Boilermaker 15k and sixth in the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. She was first in the PRRO points standing entering the Bix 7.

Miserendi, Marvin win Prairie Farms Quick Bix

8:25 a.m. | Christopher Miserendi, of Bettendorf, won the men's Prairie Farms Quick Bix, the 2-mile race option.

Megan Marvin, of Madison, Wisconsin, won the women's Prairie Farms Quick Bix.

Runners start 2026 Quad-City Times Bix 7

8:00 a.m | Runners have taken off on the 52nd running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7.

Clinton resident Angie Gabel, 48, approached the starting line Saturday morning alongside three friends, each wearing matching Wonder Woman running suits.

This is Gabel’s 10th year running the Quad-Cities’ 7-mile footrace. She enjoys the event all around, with one in her group running the race for the first time.

“It's a fun race, lots of support for fans, lots of people,” Gabel said. “All our friends just love to come down and run and do it.”

To her, the race has not changed in that time, creating a familiar and exciting environment to return to, year over year.

“That's probably the beauty of it,” she said. “It doesn't change. It's the same seven miles.”

Runners warm up ahead of the race

7:45 a.m. | Half a block away from the starting line, Tyler Petersen, 23, warmed up as racers drew nearer to Brady Street.

Petersen, who is from Coal Valley and works for the Moline Police Department, is part of a series of Quad-Cities first responder running teams. He said this year is the first time he has run the race, though he has spectated in years prior.

“I’m a little nervous,” he said. “I've never ran it before, so I'm not really sure how many hills and stuff like that. I've heard like Brady Street hill’s, pretty bad, Kirkwood, all that stuff. But I'm excited, though. I'm ready to at least finish it.”

Spectators start setting up along Bix 7 course

7:30 a.m. | Paul and Sue Bronzino have been holding down the corner of Brady and Seventh streets for so long, they don’t remember when they started. Their corner is decorated with flags, balloons, bubbles, and hundreds of beers. Throughout last year’s rainy start, the group passed out 600 beers, Sue said. It’s even part of their motto: “Run with the best, and drink with the rest (that’s us).” 

Cloud cover, temps around 70 expected

6:45 a.m. | The National Weather Service is forecasting cloud cover and a temperature around 69 degrees at race time today, a far cry from the rain showers that delayed last year's race.