Bix notes: Samuelson triumphs again in masters
Olympic medalist wins 7th Bix title
After enduring several hours of flight delays and having to go through Denver on her way from Boston to the Quad-Cities, Joan Samuelson jokingly said the Quad-City Times Bix 7 would be easier than the trip getting here.
No joke. Samuelson certainly made it look easy again in her 22nd visit to the race.
The 51-year-old Olympic gold medalist won the Bix 7 women’s masters title for the seventh time and broke her own course record for women ages 50 and over.
Her time of 42 minutes, 36 seconds was more than four minutes better than any other woman over the age of 40. For the second straight year she finished 18 overall in the women’s field.
Men’s master from Q-C
For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, one of the top men’s runners in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 calls the Quad-Cities home.
Jerry Lack of East Moline won the men’s masters championship, topping the field of 40-and-older entries with his time of 39 minutes, 4 seconds at Saturday’s race.
His effort was good enough for the 45-year old to defeat Tim Slingsby of Beaverton, Ore., by 35 seconds.
“I’ve finished second and third here a couple of times, so to finally win the masters feels pretty good,” Lack said. “This is such a huge race, a national race, and it’s here in our backyard so doing well at Bix is something that is important.
“Doing well at Bix is something that keeps me motivated. I’m at an age now where I just try to keep up with the college-age kids. They’re always kidding me about being the old guy, so it’s good for the old guy to do something every once in a while, too.”
Into the books
Kathy Loper’s return to the Bix 7 on Saturday was a record-setting one.
Loper, the race’s 1978 women’s champion and a three-time women’s masters champion, established a new age-group record on the 30th anniversary of her Bix 7 win.
Loper, who now calls San Diego home, set her mark in the 65-69 age group with a time of 58 minutes, 40 seconds, trimming more than nine minutes off the previous record set a year ago.
For the ages
Of the 30 age-group prizes presented, only five winners from 2007 repeated their feat in 2008.
Among males, the only repeat winners were Charlie Fowler of Silvis, Ill., in the
65-69 age group and John Grothus of Bettendorf in the 80-and-over category.
Annie Gasway of Gurnee, Ill., won her age group for the second straight year, following a win in the 25-29 group a year ago by placing first among 30-34 females this year.
The other two females to repeat as age group winners were Lois Gilmore of Janesville, Wis., the winner in the 75-79 category, and Betty Lynch of Davenport, who topped the field of 80-and-over entries.
It’s a start, Glass says
Bryan Glass, the marathon man from Geneseo, Ill., finished 30th Saturday, 10 places and just over a minute behind his top-20, 35:36 Bix effort of a year ago.
That was not unexpected since Glass had slowed his training regimen after winning the Governor’s Cup Marathon in Helena, Mont., in June.
“No complaints,’’ he said of his 36:38 effort. “It’s a good race heading into the fall now. I really needed a break. I’m happy with my time and it gives me some motivation.’’
Glass will be back to race in the Quad-Cities Half-Marathon in September. He will race his next competitive marathon in San Antonio in November.
Get him to the church
Rock Island Alleman graduate Nick Hird raced to Saturday’s finish line and then raced home to get ready for a wedding.
Not his own, though.
Hird finished 21st, two spots behind his career-best Bix finish of a year ago, covering the course in 35:29, 11 seconds off his 2007 pace.
He was the top Q-C racer in the field, although Jason Bill, from nearby Buda, Ill., did finish 20th, 4 seconds in front of Hird.
Bales-Dunne leads Q-C
Her address is listed as Columbia, Mo., and her last name officially is Dunne.
Still, longtime Q-C running scene watchers know her as Amanda Bales, the former Pleasant Valley track state champion. Amanda Bales-Dunne finished 21st among Saturday’s women’s field, clocking a 44:06.
It seems as though it happens every year. A handful of runners from Kenya who are not on the preliminary list of elite runners show up for the Bix 7 and walk away with top-20 finishes.
Three Kenya natives who run for the Duma Runners Club in Coon Rapids, Minn., signed up late, wore bib Nos. 195, 196 and 197, and ending up finishing 13th, 15th and 18th.
Richard Kandie, who has won three road races in Minnesota and Wisconsin this summer, led the group, finishing in a time of 33:48, followed closely by Kacob Kendagor and David Tuwei.