This was my fourth Bix 7 road race, third in four years after a 42-year hiatus from this historic mid-summer road race in the heartland. After a rather inauspicious debut as a 22 year old in 1980, when I sort of tempoed the effort in about 40 minutes. I was nursing a hip injury that knocked me out of summer training that year and opted to run 5:40-5:45 pace instead of going all out. That was an epic year in Bix history, as legendary marathoner Bill Rodgers raced it for the first time and it transformed from a fairly sleepy local/regional race to the big time national scene.
My return races in 2022 (44:07 1st in my age group) and 45:15 (again first in a new age group) were good. The 2023 effort should have been noted as an age group record, but in 2019 a runner seemed to have cut the course short and walk-jogged his way to a 44:52. Never did actually get to the bottom of that issue, but I think that’s the story. In previous years he had either walked the entire course in about 2 hours or had done the short course at about 22-23 minutes a mile. Maybe 2019 was inadvertent or maybe on purpose.
Build-up and training
I was a little flat this June after a long winter-spring of training and racing. My last two races, the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado and Steamboat 4-miler in Peoria, IL were decent but I could tell I was at the end of a long block. I took a few days off following the 4-mile and just ran easy-unstructured through the rest of June. We moved out from Colorado on the 29th and arrived in our new home (house yet to be determined) in Minnesota on the next day.
July was a build-back month and I got in three solid weeks of 63, 67, 68 miles leading into last week. I didn’t do any fast workouts, but ran a weekly double threshold of repeat 4-6 minutes on Tuesday mornings, followed by hill reps of 1.5 – 2 minutes in the afternoon. A couple of days later I would do a fartlek, tempo, or strides, and on the weekends a long run of 15-17 miles.
So far have really enjoyed being in Minnesota and meeting people, and I have joined a new club team that is stacked with very good masters runners. It’s the deepest in the country and they have a good team spirit and sense of community.
Running at sea level has felt pretty good so far, although the transition has been slowed somewhat by warm-hot and humid weather. In a land of some 20,000 lakes (and three major rivers converging within 10 miles from here) there is a lot of moisture in the air. Almost all of my runs have been at a dew point of 68 to 72, with temperatures ranging from the high 60s to 90 degrees. By last week I was feeling pretty well adapted but also hoped that I retained some residual red blood cells and hemoglobin from nearly 11 years of living and training at altitude.
Last week I ran “through” to Wednesday, keeping my daily mileage up to 9 or 10 (70-80 minutes of running) on those first three days. On Thursday I rested, and we drove to Iowa. We first stopped in Iowa City, where I met three of my high school friends. I did a 4 mile shakeout run on Friday morning with another friend, and Tamara and I ventured the hour to Davenport under hot and humid conditions. Bib pick up was a breeze and we checked into the (first) hotel at 3 PM.
Injecting a rival into the mix
As far as competition goes, my return in 2022 and 2023 were a breeze for the age group and won those by 2 or 3 minutes, while also beating almost everyone else in their 50s. However, this spring I had a couple of the Quad City locals tell me that they had a friend who wanted to take me down and set a new course record. A bit of trash talk I figured, but it seemed like this runner had some solid credentials (recent 5Ks in the low to mid 18s), so I knew I’d have to be ready. I figured that three and a half weeks of solid base training should be enough to hold off almost anyone. I didn’t try to engage in any one upmanship with my friends and at the same time, wanted to keep the race as a fun event where the main competition was me vs. the course and conditions.
Nevertheless, the race was on my mind for much of the week as I focused on what I could do for my own race and to let others do what they will. This was not a championship event and the only thing on the line was a little blue Iowa-shaped ceramic plaque and some pride.
And then the rains came down
Friday afternoon was hot and muggy. We went out to dinner a little early (5:30) and got there just in time to beat the pre-race rush! It started to rain as soon as we got to the restaurant.
After dinner we settled back into our hotel, an older place about 10 or 12 minutes from downtown and the race. At 8:30 we noticed a fire engine in the parking lot, and moments later the fire alarm went off! We grabbed the dog and a few items (including my race gear of course) and headed out the door. A fireman was right there and he told us to stay put.
So we did. We waited about 10-15 minutes in an empty and eerily silent hotel, while the firefighters worked upstairs, and mulled our next steps. Earlier I noticed that our lamp and clock were flashing on and off due to electrical surges and moments before all of the commotion I heard scratching and crackling in the walls and ceiling–this ended up being an electrical fire. We decided to bug out and made new reservation at a nearby hotel.
Despite the turmoil and some extra expense we were in bed by 10. Sleep was a little restless but not bad. I woke up just befor 5:00 AM to a sharp thunder clap. Rain was coming down hard and it would not relent for hours. We wanted to get to a parking ramp near the start early and had just packed the car, ready to go, when I got the delay of race text. We wouldn’t be starting until 9 AM a delay of one hour. Back to the room. It was still pouring rain when we headed to the race but there had not been any lightning that we could see. However, we did have to change our parking plans, and avoided the downtown area. We parked along the Mississippi River, about 3/4 of a mile from the downtown and I waited until 30 minutes before the start to head out into the rain and begin my warm-up.
It was pouring.
I did just a short warm-up of about 1.3 miles with some drills and strides. I’m not sure if that was not sufficient for the day. It was still fairly warm at 73 degrees, and I didn’t want to overheat once we started racing. The rain helped everything feel cooler.
I got to the Orange corral (2nd) about 16 minutes before the start of the race. I think I have been in Orange every year I have run it. The White corral is for the elite and next fastest couple hundred runners. After the race I found out from a local that you have to request an elite/sub-elite start position in the White corral.
This did make a difference on Saturday. In my previous outings I had lined up fairly near the front of the Orange corral, and was able to run up Brady Street hill without much interference. In 2022 I probably took it out a little fast and was struggling for breath the rest of the way. I ran an 18 second positive split and moved up 22 spots from half-way. That was solid for first time back in 42 years. The next year in 2023 I started out a little easier on the first mile and ran a 10 second negative split. Tha.t felt better
My goal was to run a bit faster than 2023, under 45 minutes and to have a shot at the existing (what I think was false) record of 44:52. To do that I wanted to get out in about 6:40 for the first mile and run 6:20s for most of the rest of the way.
The race
The Orange corral had filled up fast (and early) and I lined up towards the front. Ultimately it was not far enough and I should have found a way to the very front. Once they dropped the ropes and we made the final approach I was about 10 or 12 meters back from the start line. The gun went off and it took about 10 seconds to cross the start line. I figured I’d be fine because everything is by chip time based on when you cross the start; however it soon became apparent that there were many many of runners ahead, going out at variable speeds.
I was boxed in.
The first half mile up Brady Street is a straight climb at a 7-8% grade. The trick is that you don’t want to go out too fast and then suffer the rest of the way, but you also don’t want to go out slow and fall behind. I got trapped behind clumps of runners a few times and had to do some weaving around and stutter stepping to get through. By the time we reached the top of the hill I had found some better navigation. But the going was still choppy.
The split for the first mile was 6:55, and that was too slow. On the good side, I wasn’t breathing hard as I picked it up on the downhill second mile but it was still quite crowded and had to slow and weave several times to get around slowing runners.
One of the highlights of the day was when a youngster ran by and said “hey, you’re a good runner!” I thought that was funny and asked him how old he was. He said 12! My second mile was in 6:10. The street was crowded but I stayed pretty close to my young friend through the turn-around.
I hit the half-way split in just under 23 minutes. My goal to run under 45 minutes and the opportunity to set a new record appeared to be slipping. Saturday would not be a record breaker for me. I wanted at least to hold 6:30/mile pace throughout (45:30) and I reminded myself to hang on for that.
My 12 year old friend dropped off soon after the half-way point.
Miles 4, 5, 6 on this course are a grind. After you crest that first hill at about half a mile, you have just over miles 2 miles of flat downhill, mostly on Kirkwood Avenue. That’s the best part of the race. However, at 2.6 miles you hit another big uphill on Middle Road, it’s about a quarter mile of 5-8% grade and it’s a gut punch. You then drop down to the turn around and have to do it again but in reverse (longer but not quite as steep on the return). The respite on the leeward side of Middle Road feels too short. My 3rd and 4th miles were 6:35 and 6:36, slower than I had wanted but it would have to do.
Tamara was there to cheer at about 4.2 miles, just before we started the long gradual ascent to Brady Street.
From 4.2 to 6.2 it’s almost all uphill with a couple steep pitches and here is where the course really gets tough. You are getting fatigued but still far from the finish. My splits for mile 5 and 6 were 6:39 and 6:41. At about 4.5 miles I had caught up to another masters runner that I know and we went back and forth to the finish. He kept me going, and I think I kept him going.
With about 0.7 to go, the long downhill down Brady Street and past the start is usually a lot of fun. But unlike the early miles running down Kirkwood, it’s a hurting sort of fun. You know that you are almost done, but the fatigue, leg aches, and hypoxia have taken their toll. I just wanted to keep up with my masters compatriot, knowing that if I did I’d finish ahead in the standings because he was in the White corral at the start and had a gap off the bat.
We hammered that last mile! I hit that last split in 5:46 my fastest split of the day and faster than in 2022 and 2023!
My final time was 16 seconds slower than in 2023, and 32 seconds from my pre-race goal time (and 40 seconds shy of the old “record”).
And what of my age group rival, whom my friends had touted? I had crossed and initially thought I had finished ahead, because I had passed a couple of other 60-something runners along the way.
Moments later, however, I saw him with a group of his “Faster Masters” team. He had finished a minute ahead and had broken the previous mark by 20 seconds. Although I would have liked to have been on top (he ran the time that I had dreamed of in an A++ scenario) I’m glad that had set a legitimate mark for our age group. But dang! Where did he come from? Prior to this year I think I was ahead of his performance level, and we had faced off head-to-head a couple of times and I had triumphed. Not this year.
Post hoc shakeout
For age grade, I have been consistent. I ran 86.7% in 2022, 85.6% in 2023, and this year it was 86.5%. I’m not unhappy with my age grade score, my competitor at two years younger was less than 0.2% ahead in age grading, and we ended up finishing 1-2 in overall in age grading for masters men (unofficially).
Looking at it a few days later I had a good but not great race and I should be proud of the effort even though I did not win the age group or set the record. That would have required an extraordinary effort and I simply do not have the fitness right now to run minute faster than I did.
That said, I have a couple muses. Primarily, I need to find a way to get into that White elite/sub elite corral. In my three recent outings I have beaten many runners who have had the opportunity to line up ahead of me. I could also keep my warm up going a little longer and confidently line up and run my pace up that hill and over the first couple miles with less interference. I think that cost me 20 seconds.
Second, my new age group rival, what the heck kind of community effort was that to get him on top? He had a lot of encouragement and maybe some intel from his running mates (some of whom I share Strava accounts, so they could see what types of workouts I was running).
Finally, the fields at many races are getting stronger and deeper in our age group. It is rather remarkable. I can’t just try to maintain age grade points (and slow down a bit each year) and expect to win every time. And this is especially the case as you get up in your age category. That means going forward I have to be better prepared for big races.
A weekend of fire and rain that ended up going pretty well. Bix is a great event. Usually with 12,000-15,000 runners these days, and a quality professional field. I’ll be back, especially now that it’s only a half day’s drive to get there.
rrunnin234 