First to Last, Two Decades in the Making

July has traditionally been a big running month here at Intrigued. The month usually kicks off with the Cry Me a River 50K Ultra-Trail Run, somewhere in middle Jan has her run for St. Jude and the end of the month has been devoted to the Bix 7 Race held in Davenport, IA. Being that we are now officially in August, each of those events has now been held. Jan came through with flying colors in her charity effort, but a case of mixed results in my races. The catastrophe that was CMAR was detailed in the previous recollection post (link here). That is still a bitter pill to swallow, especially after today’s training run. Noticed last night the temps were going to drop back into the high 60’sF and decided to head back out to the Illinois Bluff trail to assess the level of damage done from the heat on race day. The internal thermostat out of play, I cruised through 10 miles of the course with little effort – frustrated in my bad weather luck early in the month, but ecstatic that I had not lost the stamina. There is some variability with the 50K weather, however, it is not realistic to expect anything better than HOT/HUMID when it comes to the Bix 7. Based on the earlier beating from the heat, I was less than confident in upcoming 7 miles along the Mississippi River bluff.

Hit the jump to read how the race went and why this race was extra special this year.

I need to take you back in time to give a little background on my relationship with the Bix7. 22 years ago my passion (dare say addiction) was in the field of martial arts. What began in college, shelved due to the stress of early worklife and then picked up again several years later was essentially ended due to a serious injury in the dojo. After numerous disciplines, competitions, black belts, second degree black belts and overcoming daily bruisings, a few minor breaks and a near constant state of ache, the body gave in and suffered a shoulder tear during a black belt certification. Nothing I tried would resolve it and now regular injuries were not getting resolved before new ones were being added – the body was in fail mode. Made the difficult decision to leave the sport and ended up having to get the cartilage fused in the right shoulder. Linda was probably the most relieved as the coworkers were convinced she was beating me up every night as I kept the dojo training personal.

I can tell you I do not do well when I am idle. Frustration grew from the long surgery recovery and having nothing to focus on outside of work. I can’t hide anything from Linda, she knows me too well. At some point she brought up a running race that was a big deal in her hometown of Davenport, IA. Challenging hills in the midst of Midwestern heat. Hmmm, I had ring endurance, but I had never actually run a mile in my life beyond the constant childhood play. Threw my hat, err, feet into the ring and committed to “Running with the Best” the next year.

Picked up some running clothes and a decent pair of shoes, added the race date on the calendar and went out for my first true run. After a lot of huffing, puffing and swearing to the running gods I made it to … the end of the driveway. Granted it was a long country driveway, but talk about a hit to the ego. Staggered back to the house assured this was going to be the “Big One” (link here). Not sure I’ve ever seen Linda laugh that hard in her life. Alas, I was committed and that is kinda my thing. Each run I added another mailbox. Even lost 25 pounds of bulk muscle to retool the body for this new endeavor – didn’t need to absorb kicks or throw opponents anymore. Race day came, made it through and found myself in the middle of an absolutely amazing after party – with free TWINKIES! Linda was spot on, the race bug had sunk deep.

I have looked forward to and competed in that race every year since – that’s 19 consecutive years of conquering Brady Street hill and the brutal hill at the midpoint (not counting the Covid year they went virtual instead). Crossed that finish line in 100F+ temps, raging humidity, rain, sick, fighting an infection and thanks to last year, with broken bones. This year would make two full decades since that decision to start this crazy journey of running.

During this time I also caught the ultra-trail running bug. Easier on the back, softer on the knees with new exciting challenges. In these latter years, the Bix was the only road race on the calendar. The after party was still one of the best, but the Twinkies were gone and the buildings and hard surfaces were being outweighed by the flora and fauna of the trail. I has been a fun 20 year ride, but it was time to let it go. This was the 50th year for Bix and they were giving finisher medals out – also would earned my 20 year anniversary pin – a memorable time to put a bow on it. Linda was also on her 20 year run and like me, was looking forward to having additional travel time.

Considering all the likely possibilities, we did catch a break on the weather. Don’t get me wrong, it was still in the mid 80’s to start and that would only climb as the day went on, however, I wouldn’t be standing in sweat in the chutes! Over 16,000 of my closest running friends lined up facing the daunting Brady Street hill. Linda was back with the walkers while I was lined up in the yellow chute. My days in the fast chute ahead of us had been relinquished a few years earlier. Training had shifted away from speed – the consolation, I could loop this race 7 times ha!

I felt surprisingly good in light of the CMAR falter. Keep the body thermostat from going whacko and I should be chomping down on Whitey’s root beer popscicles in just over an hour. Did make two commitments in honor of this being the last time pounding this pavement – first, continue the streak of never stopping on the two major hills, they shall never break me. The second task was to enjoy the experience. Typically the head is down, focus is inward to continually assess the body’s performance while trying to pick the best line through the mass of humanity. All replaced now with a huge smile as I took in the bands and fans that line the course. Noted the Slip ‘n Slide on the way down Kirkwood Blvd, laughed at the encouraging signs, thought about doing the bench press competition near the midpoint of the race (I’ll tell everyone it was the broken elbow that swayed me against hehehe), enjoyed the sprinklers previously avoided like the plague and even high-fived the kids cheering everyone on from the curb. There was a bit of sadness as I turned back down Brady Street. Traditionally this is the point when you know you have made it through. Make time up on the downhill and gut out the final stretch to the finish. It fully hit me as I turned off Brady to run the flat. Another scene in the Life of Brian movie had made it to the final curtain fall. Then I thought about Whitey’s and the joy returned..oh, and they handed me a medal for my efforts.

Life is good as they say! I was upright, the internal thermometer held for the full distance, injury free with a gold medal in one hand and frozen paradise in the other. There was one disappointment on the day. My regular readers know that I like to take a post-race picture with an ambulance in honor of being outside and not inside one at the end of a race (see last picture in the 2023 recollection here). Linda and I couldn’t find one – yes, that is a bit concerning especially when I am participating in the race! Linda found a suitable replacement backdrop.

… and speaking of Linda, congratulations to her for successfully finishing her 20th running of the Bix as well – she prefers to participate in the Quick Bix which is a shortened course that still includes that monster Brady St. hill. She even one-upped me this year as she also completed the Sr. Bix held a few days before with her childhood friend Ann. Special congrats to Ann as well who has been showing a recent cancer diagnosis who’s the boss. Doing the Bix with Linda was her inspiration to make it through the treatments.

That’s a wrap folks. 20 years in the book. The medal and anniversary pins are nice, but the memories are the big takeaways from this year’s running of the Bix 7.

Time to put the road away and place the focus back on the trail. The 50 miler Farmdale Trail Race is just around the corner (October) and there are plenty of miles to put in to get ready for that test of wills.

Take care everyone!