DAVENPORT, Iowa — With Bix-7 just around the corner, runners are training for the big race.
On July 20, a few runners were still going up and down the track, which starts at the base of the Brady Street hill in downtown Davenport.
Three high school friends — Dylan, Sam, and Matt — were training together in the late afternoon for the 7-mile run.
"I'm in the Army National Guard, so I've had to run significantly for the past six years," Dylan DeGama said. "Running's not my favorite thing. I hate running," he said with an amused grin, "but it just feels like a necessary hurdle."
For Sam Nowachek, Bix is a family tradition.
"My dad ran a bunch before his hip was replaced, but my uncle, I think he's done 40 or something like that," he said.
For the trio, the race is an important hill to climb every year.
"If I wasn't running it, I was down here every year since I've been born pretty much," Nowachek said. "It's just kind of what you do — I don't even think twice about it, really."
However, some rough heat could make this year's race a struggle, as temperatures are expected to go into the 90s. Organizers are making sure they're ready.
"There will be a lot of water to drink, water to run through," Joan Kranovich from Visit Quad Cities' Sports QC division said. "We're planning for the 90-degree heat — I'm hoping it'll change over the course of this week."
"Did a marathon earlier this year and couldn't finish because I wasn't properly hydrated — so I'll probably focus on that this time around," DeGama said.