2009 USA 7 Mile Championships

TOP AMERICANS TO COMPETE AT BIX 7 TOMORROW
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

It may be an odd distance, but it is undoubtedly one terrific race.

For the 35th time, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 Mile will be held tomorrow in Davenport, Ia., and for the second time the event will hold a USA road racing championship for the seven mile distance, just .728 kilometers short of 12 km.  USA titles will be awarded to both men and women, and a $45,000 prize money purse will be distributed.

"This is just what we needed to help us celebrate our 35th anniversary," said race director Ed Froehlich when the championship was announced back in January.  "We will strive to get all of the top American runners to come and compete."

He's been mostly successful in achieving that goal.  The men's race is shaping up to be a three-way battle between top stars Meb Keflezighi, Anthony Famiglietti and James Carney, all of whom would love to cash the winner's $10,000 check.  Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, was the Bix champion in 2002, the last time the race was a national championship.  He's already won the national half-marathon and cross country titles so far this year.  Famiglietti, a two-time Olympian in the steeplechase, won the national 15-K title back in March, and was second at the USA 10-K championships on July 4th.  Carney was most recently fourth at the USA Outdoor Championships at 10,000m, missing a berth on the national team for the IAAF World Championships by just one place.

The women's field is well-balanced, but veteran Magdalena Lewy Boulet has to be considered the favorite.  An Olympic marathoner last year, Lewy Boulet won her first USA title last January over the half-marathon distance in Houston.  Her key challengers will be former Notre Dame star Molly Huddle, 2009 NYRR New York Mini 10-K runner-up Serena Burla, national 25-K champion Sally Meyerhoff, and lawyer turned distance runner Kelly Jaske.

Getting a fast time at the Bix isn't easy.  Runners have to negotiate the infamous Brady Street Hill (7 to 9% grade for one-third of a mile) just after the start, and the weather is typically warm and very humid.  The course records are 31:52 by five-time winner John Korir of Kenya set in 1998, and 35:24 by two-time winner Susan Chepkemei, also of Kenya, set in 2004. 

The Bix is also a big event; last year's race had 10,565 finishers and there were more in the two-mile "Quick Bix" and "Jr. Bix" for children.

ENDS

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