
It’s been five years since current Bix 7 Race Director, Michelle Burnett Juehring, took over the reins to lead the largest summer running event in the area. And as her first directing gig landed on the same year that the entire sporting world would have to go virtual, the Bix’s golden anniversary five years down the road was nowhere on her radar then. “It did not even register then that the 50th was coming up,” said Burnett Juehring.
And with less than a month to go, she alongside her stellar race crew, will host the 50th anniversary of the running of the Bix 7. “In 2020, everything changed for mass sporting events,” said Burnett Juehring. “We are trying to bring back that normalcy and excitement where you can go out and not think about what happened.”
As the seven-mile course will stay the same challenging yet rewarding course as it’s always been, along with the Jr. Bix and Quick Bix, the biggest addition to the week’s festivities is the addition of The Bechtel Trust Sr Bix on Tuesday night. “Ed (Froehlich) had this idea to honor the athletes that got us to fifty years,” explained Burnett Juehring. “You have to be fifty or older and when you sign up for the Bix, you get that race free as well. We figured if you are fifty and older and have run the Bix, you’ve paid your dues.”
This year’s motto is Go for the Gold. And with the Paris Olympics kicking off the same weekend along with former Olympians coming to join the race, Burnett Juering believes the Bix is the gold standard of what a race event should be and wants everyone coming to feel the same way as well. “I think people feel welcomed when they get here,” said Burnett Juehring. “We work really hard to make it first class from the t-shirt to the food and the expo. You have the feeling that you are in a big city like New York or Chicago, but its right here in Davenport, Iowa in the Quad Cities and I feel our community really embraces that and we couldn’t do it without our community supporting us as much as they do.”
With five years under her belt as the race director and twenty-one years with the Bix organization, Burnett Juehring prides herself on growing what was passed down to her to make for better event each year. “I’d like to think that I’m honoring the heritage that we have and making sure that our race goes back to our roots,” said Burnett Juehring. “And that I consider myself a player/coach in that I am continuing the legacy we have and setting it up for the next person when they take the baton and run with it.”
So, whether this is your first or fiftieth Bix 7 race, Burnett Juehring hopes that you truly embrace all that this race and everything around it entail. “When we talk about, Run with the Best, you not only have a seat at the table so to speak, but you are on the same course as some of those elite and Olympic athletes,” said Burnett Juehring. “And that just makes whether you are a runner, walker or jogger feel like one big family. So, buckle in because you are in for quite the ride.”
The Bix 7 race is Saturday, July 27th at 8am at the bottom of Brady Street Hill. For more information or to register for the Bix or any of the other events throughout the week visit, www.bix7.com.