Cheryl's BIX Survival Story. With Heroic Pins and Medals!

Well, we managed to survive the BIX 7 again.   The heat... about the same as 2015.  80 degrees at the start.   The course?   Same as last time... Uphill...BOTH ways!  The results:  Cheryl placed third in her age group.  That is about the only official results we know so far.  She also took three minutes and six seconds off her previous BIX 7 time.

Cheryl in Mid Frame.

I do know that I was wrong about the number of runners.... Not 10,000.    More like 20,000!   Granted, a little over half of them ran the Quik BIX for only 2 miles.  With a crowd like that,  it was a challenge to find Cheryl in the mix.  But after carefully combing all of the "random crowd shots"  ( 721 to be exact!)  We found her!    Wouldn't you know she is right in the middle of a shot... and I never saw it.   I'm just happy I captured her at the start.

Elites wearing "The Shoes" 

There were lots of Elites there from all over.   And I have never seen so many of the Zoom Vapor Fly shoes all in one place at the same time.   Most of the Kenyans/Ethiopians had them.  A few have the newest ones!  ( They are green with a black swoosh)  There were also relay teams from Michigan and all over other parts of the world.  Top three "teams" get prize money.  I was pretty sure many of the Elites were linked up on a team effort as well.

Bathroom Visits..

Other than that,   the race was very similar to the race 4 years ago.  Then again, why would it change?   It has been the same for 45 years!  I guess this will be the last year the race director will be doing it... handing the torch to some other diplomat of running for the future.   Perhaps things will change under new management, but then again,  why mess with tradition?

Cheryl prepares to enter the gate.

20,000 people! Down there....

The race started with Patriotic songs sung badly by people who think they can sing well.   It is not just my opinion...  Cheryl agrees!   I know it takes a lot of guts to sing in front of 20,000 strangers...  But the BIX is all about Jazz Music and other genres.   You would think they could find a good singer for the National Anthem and that Lee Greenwood song.

Biker Parade.

Perhaps it is a tradition of races where they pluck out a random voice from the crowd.... or put an ad on Craig's List for "Motivated Vocalists...NO experience required."   I will never forget Boston.   That guy killed all of my favorite Armed Forces Songs.   ( Killed them!)


One thing that was missing was the Fly by from the planes.   Maybe the guy sang the song so badly that the planes missed their queue.  Or they simply were too expensive..  Or the Blue Angels were not in town this weekend.   However,  the Biker's DID show up and rode their Harley's down ( I mean... Up!)  the Brady Street Hill.  Nothing says America like a Harley.   ( or so all of the literature tells me.)

My Spectator Spot.

ESPN? Maybe...

Soon after that,  the gun went off and the race was on.   I was positioned in front of the News Station.   They looked like they had a small group of ESPN folks there doing the announcing.  I did not recognize any of them...Then again, I don't watch ESPN.

Dancing Spine. 

It took about 15 minutes for the runners to flood past.   By the time the last runner/walker was past me,  the Elites had already finished over half of the race.  I watched out for the Jane Mansfields and Dancing Spine. 

Heading for the free Beer...

Three Elvises...

There were plenty of other oddities, but I did not capture many of them, and the pictures really did not turn out very well.   I did manage to capture the Three Elvises.   They were almost to my position when they became distracted by the free college beer.  I did not wait to see if they would return to the race.

Cheryl comes in for the Finish. 

She waves. 

As Cheryl came down the hill,  it looks deceiving.    She is moving pretty fast, but the steep grade of the hill is not as apparent as it was for the people watching from it.   She thinks she may have lost another toe nail after slipping in her shoes with each step of the long hill.  I have found that running down hill seems almost more taxing than running up the things.   You constantly have to brake all the way down or risk losing control.  Lots of Wear and Tear on your knees and ankles. 

Looks easy, but it is rather steep. 

The main take away from this event was that this was the first year they offered a Medal to the finishers.   ( Another tradition that may stick for next year...) Cheryl did not stay for the Beer, Chick-Fil-et, or Wal-Mart Snacks.  She just grabbed a Popsicle and headed out to find me.  

45 years of Tradition... Broken!

Train crosses over the race. 

 She did not want any ot the offerings, so we instead went biking along the Mississippi again.  Then capped things off with Tee's in Muscatine.  Since the crowd was HUGE...  There was a Festival at the same time... AND there was a HUGE farmer's Market in the Bandit's Parking lot....  Davenport was much too busy for us to want to hang around long.   We decided running the race,  getting the medal, and biking along the river would be a "full enough" day for us. 

I get the Shirt...

Cheryl gets her Medal.

  Besides,  we have been up since 4 A.M. this morning.   What better way to spend the remainder of the day than at home resting and recovering.  Plus,  we have the RAGBRAI beer from Big Grove Brewing.   No need to wait around for a free one.

Building a bridge in Betendorf.

Looks like they are making Progress

Biking with the train.

So that is all for now.  Time to rest and crack open that refreshing beverage.  Both of us are bound to sleep better tonight than we did last night.  Plus,  the BIX is over.   Cheryl Survived/conquered it, and will most likely not do it again.  ( Unless there is another finisher's medal next year...Just sayin'.)  Hope everyone is having a fun filled and relaxing weekend so far. Thanks for stopping in.