A Triumphant Return to the QC Via Running

I ran a race this past weekend. I'd never run a race before. Prior to last September, I'd never really even run at all. The race was seven miles. I finished in seventy-one minutes.

This race was called the Bix 7. The Bix is a jazz festival slash giant seven mile race that Davenport, Iowa uses as their big town festival all towns of all sizes are required to have. The jazz festival portion of the day brings in a lot of strange beatniks and mellow hepcats. The race portion of the day brings in a lot of anorexic looking fast people. The race also brings in a lot of people in strange costumes. I don't know why these people run in strange costumes, but because they do, I can officially say I've run seven miles with Mario, Luigi, Marilyn Monroe (actually three Marilyn Monroes), a person dressed like a carton of cigarettes (?), and a gorilla. Luckily for the gorilla, it was raining all day, so he did not die of heat exhaustion. I have a hard time believing the deity of his choosing would have allowed the person in the gorilla costume into his version of the afterlife had he overheated running a race in an ill-advised, poorly ventilated costume.

I'm enjoying my pre-race breakfast of dry toast, chocolate milk w/ protein powder, and water. Delicious AND satisfying.

Aside from the strange cosplay runners, the race also attracts some of the world's best runners from all over the world (this year being an exception--this year you had to be an American citizen to run the race--I don't know why--I think it was because the race was the official seven mile American championship race this year--that's a thing, the official seven mile American championship race--that thing should probably be in all caps--at least the first letters of the words should be in all caps--do they have an official American championship race for all mile intervals, or is there something special about seven?--either way, this year attracted the America's best runners from all over the world). Because of the jazz and world party type atmosphere, the streets are littered with people cheering and drinking. For the last two years, I cheered and drank during the race. I woke up real early, ate breakfast burritos, drank beer, and shouted odd things at odd runners. This year, as I stood in the pouring rain at 7:30 crammed into a "starting pen" with a a bunch of strangers, the drinking option seemed much more appealing.

It actually is a fun race to watch, because you see the "elite" runners (ie, the Kenyans and American Olympians) all run by followed about two minutes later by the rest of the racers. Then it would be a constant stream of people for about three hours. While it is a fun race to watch, it was way more fun to run. Here's a map of the course from the Bix 7 website:

A BIGGER PIC CAN BE FOUND HERE.

The race has a reputation for being brutal. I personally can't compare the difficulty of the course to any other course, but this race featured a lot of steep inclines and declines--there's really only one small stretch of "flat" land. You'll notice that most of the first mile is a steep incline. I started near the middle of the pack, and it was incredible to run up the hill and see 8000 people in front of me packing the street. I looked up the street and saw nothing but an endless sea of bouncing heads surrounded by bands, race fans, and drunks.

That's me 2.5 miles into the race.

I did not run with any of the "serious" runners. None of the people around me had any illusions of winning the $13,000 grand prize or the free car. This meant the people around me just wanted to have some fun and have some fun they did. They were shouting songs at the top of their lungs. One guy was trying to sell everyone running next to him Amway. Another guy kept trying to get everyone around him to wave at certain people to really "freak those guys on their asses." He'd say, "You all see that guy up the road in the red shirt? Let's all turn at him and say, "Hi ya red shirt son of a bitch! That'll freak him right on his ass." Eventually the initial race euphoria and smart-assery gave way to people struggling to breathe and live. The comments from the runners died down, and I turned my concentration to the fans on the sidelines. There was a band about every half mile or so. The bands ranged from gospel choirs to high school bands trying to raise awareness of their sucktitude (at least that's what they did--I don't know if they intended to do that). One band featured two old guys who just wanted to bring back the phrase hip hip hooray. Both times I ran by they shouted, "Now everyone give me a hip hip hooray." I obliged. Why not? Then they shouted, "Not many people hip hip hooray anymore. We want to bring it back." They have a point. I wish them luck.

This is me before the race. I'm as dry in this picture as a normal, dry person...

One nice woman prior to the halfway mark offered jello shots. I declined. Another nice person offered beer. It was keg beer, so I declined. Definitely the most disappointing part of the race came shortly after mile marker one when volunteers handed out Wendy's cups to all the runners. I thought, "Sweet. Free Frosty!" only to be disappointed when the cup was filled with water. It was raining. What the hell did I need water for? Give me strange malty chocolate ice cream next year please.

Another note: The race had several "tiered" starts. The elite runners went first. Next went the serious and experienced runners. Next went the inexperienced runners or people who would walk some of the course (this was my group). Last went the walkers. Several people started with the the serious and experienced runners even though they planned to walk the entire event. At the very least, they started walking right away. Those people should be euthanized. I don't care if you stop and walk during the race. In fact, I encourage it. It should be fun, and no one should push themselves to the point of getting hurt. But don't start in front of all the runners and then start to walk IMMEDIATELY. Pre-meditated early walking is now the eighth deadly sin. It's very dangerous. There are people running behind you. You will be run over and killed. You will cause people to fall. Do you know nothing of Spain and bulls?

...and this is me after, the race with my lovely wife. I'm way too wet in this picture. I don't know what Dottie is doing.

I was happy with how I finished. I was happy I finished. The only goal I had was to run the entire race without walking or stopping, and I accomplished that. The fact I ran it all with an "almost" average of ten minutes per mile surprised me. The cool, rainy weather helped as there was no added exhaustion from heat. Really though, my time is a moot point. When I lived in the Quad Cities I spent two years being incredibly unhealthy. I made a lot of poor diet choices and did not exercise consistently at all. I've spent the last ten months trying to build a healthy lifestyle, and I set a goal last May that I could return to the Quad Cities and, "run the race instead of drink the race." I proved to myself that I could do that, and that's all I wanted to do. I had a strange sense of achievement at the end of the race. As I walked the half mile back to my car, soaking wet from sweat, rain, and spilled not-Frosty's, I enjoyed watching the other race participants cool down and revel in their own personal accomplishments. We were all happy for our own reasons and the same reasons. I've never been a "team" guy, so that was my first real taste of a shared accomplishment. It tasted good. It was much better than a Frosty.