This year marked the 35th Anniversary of the Bix7 run/walk. It's named after Bix Beiderbecke, a famous jazz trumpet player from the early 20th Century. The Bix7 is run during the same week as the Bix Memorial Jazz Festival and numerous other summer activities in Davenport, Ia.My personal bartender Margaret had never done the Bix and asked if I would walk the 7 mile course with her. I agreed with trepidation. When you think of Iowa, you don't think of hills, but the beginning of the course is 1/2 mile at a very steep incline. It tends to intimidate the uninitiated. I convinced Margaret to begin walking 2 miles every day and to try the hill on for size a couple times. Mission accomplished, and we were as race ready as we could be. I had already walked the Bix 4 times before, so I knew what to expect.
With about 18000 participants, we were grouped by estimated 1 mile pace, or, in the case of us walkers, back with the Elvis impersonators, Oscar Meyer Wiener, Michael Jackson lookalikes, and the Palmer Chiropractic College spine, 1 person per vertabra, decked out in molded styrofoam.
Race day broke party cloudy, in the 60's with low humidity. Perfect. Margaret and I assumed our position, and the gun went off. 10 min later, we reached the starting line.
2:50 later we reached the finish, but we were so far behind that the electronic timing apparatus had already been disassembled. Nothing but our memories and a few photos to mark our passing. Here they are. Margaret the gregarious one couldn't resist being caught for posterity with the attending celebrities.
Kenabeck
Part of the Palmer Chiropractic Spine
Margaret and an Army unit from Clinton, IA
Margaret with a select group of Elvis impersonators
Margaret with the Oscar Meyer Wiener
Margaret with the Michael Jackson Dance-A-Like winner
1 comment:
Excellent photos!
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