Bix7

Bix7 in Davenport, IA, fun race. There were about 12K runners/walkers or so, with 10,565 finishers. Course is known for it's big hill at the start, and with it's out and back course that means running down the same hill near the finish. We got up early and headed down to the start area, getting there plenty early and hanging out until the start. The start was packed, hard to get in stride, but then shortly hit the hill anyway, and rather than weave around people and wear myself out, I walked up the hill. Then it was downhill for a while, but still the road was quite crowded so I couldn't really pick up the pace as much as I thought I would. The course then went uphill again for a bit, then back down as it got close to the river, then we turned around and came back. Shortly after the mile 6 mark, the course headed down the hill and I was able to kick it in a bit and let gravity get my going. The final turn and on to the finish line. 7 miles in an official 1:13:13 for a pace of 10:27. Splits of 11:42, 9:24, 11:01, 10:41, 10:58, 10:29 and 8:43. I walked up a lot of the hills. It was warm out but not as bad as it could have been (start was about 70F, finish upper 70s). Average heart rate was 160. Post race was crowded but there was no shortage of junk food - a mountain of twinkees and other similiar items. Waited for Judy to finish, then headed back to the car and then to the hotel. Showered and got on the road to the Amanas for lunch and then homeward. Was fun, will most likely do it again.