Bix at Six back in business

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By Shannon Heaton | Wednesday, July 16, 2008 |

Beka Whitcanack crossed the finish line of the first 2008 Bix at Six with a smile on her face Thursday night.

It was hard telling whether the soon-to-be Moline High School freshman was happy to have finished the event with the time she had hoped for or because she had kicked past her mother in the final yards. Maybe, it was a bit of both.

Or, maybe not.

“She said she was sprinting, but she’s really slow at sprinting,” Whitcanack said of her mother, Coal Valley, Ill., resident Nancy McDonald, Quad-City Times Bix 7 committee chairperson for the Brady Street Sprint.

“I felt pretty good, but it was kind of getting hot. I’ve never done it (the Saturday races) before, but I’m doing the Quick Bix this year.”

For her own part, McDonald was happy, too. However, it was hard telling whether it was from maternal pride resulting from her daughter beating her or from finally getting — along with the rest of the Bix 7 committee and a slew of volunteers — a Bix at Six off the ground after two false starts each of the past two Thursdays.

“We were worried about whether we could get the volunteers to return, but we certainly did get a very good turnout for volunteers tonight,” McDonald said before heading off to run the first Sprint of 2008.

And, after waiting almust until July just to get a Bix at Six in, several hundred runners and walkers were eager to take advantage of the opportunity to get course mileage under their belts with just four-plus weeks to go before the July 26 race. Weather and flooding caused the cancellations of the previous two scheduled Bix at Sixes.

“When they originally had it scheduled a couple of weeks ago, it kind of snuck up on me, that it (the Bix 7) is six weeks away, and it’s time to get out there,” Bettendorf resident Pat Foley said. “I’m kind of self-motivated to do well, but it’s nice to have it back. It helps to get out and do the hills. There’s no substitute for this course. It’s so unique in and of itself.

“I do wish they’d have a couple more, but I’m about where I need to be.”

A night for Panthers

University of Northern Iowa 400-meter runners in the spring, Pleasant Valley graduate Lauren Carruthers and Ryan Grenko, respectively, won the women’s and men’s Brady Street Sprint races Thursday night.

Carruthers, who graduated from UNI last month, recently returned from a family vacation in time for the Sprint. Now she’ll be looking to find a title next month and a job — hopefully — a little sooner than that.

“Looking up at the hill, it’s hard to find the guts to actually go up it,” Carruthers said of her 1-minute, 19.03-second time. “I felt really good. I tried to take it easy and not make it too hard.”

Grenko, an Iowa City native who’ll be a senior this fall, held off a pair of Rock Island High School alumni in Dillon Smith and Alex Seiver for the men’s win in 1:02.04.

“I won it last year, so I had to come back and defend it. It still scares me,” Grenko said of the hill. “I’ve been training all year, so it only really hurts when I’m done. But (the pain) starts when I first look up the hill.“

Relay teams needed

High school and corporate-sponsored relay teams are needed to compete in the finals of the Sprint on Friday, July 25 at 7 p.m. Interested teams should contact Gary Roberson at (563) 359-0438 or email him at Robersonpacker@aol.com.