DAVENPORT, IA - Bix Biederbecke was a jazz musician of some repute, so it would have done his heart good to see the number of athletes using his namesake race - the 31st Quad-City Times Bix 7 - as a tune-up for next month's World Championships of Track and Field. While there were a few off-key notes, most of those going on to Helsinki proved they've got their chops down pretty well.

Most notable among them is women's winner Nuta Olaru of Romania, who'll race the marathon in Finland. In only her second run over this hilly 7 mile course along the Mississippi, she disposed of a strong field that included Catherine Ndereba, who will defend her World Champs marathon title, and was bidding to win her fourth Bix title and coronet trophy in six tries. Olaru and Sally Barsosio of Kenya traded the lead right from the gun until the turnaround at the halfway point, when Olaru, 34, made a strong move on one of the many hills on the course. While her lead was substantial, she never felt it was insurmountable.

"Sally is very strong in downhill parts of the race," she said. "Every uphill part we got to, I was thinking 'Go, Go' because Sally would come back on the downhill. I am training for marathons, not for speed. Before, I was thinking maybe top six in Helsinki, but after today - maybe more."

Olaru had plenty of breathing room at the end, her 36:53 putting her 31 seconds ahead of Barsosio.

Ndereba, normally a prolific road racer, made this her only competitive effort of the summer as she ramps up for her world title defense, and finished third (37:34).

"My legs felt a little heavy today," said the 2005 Boston Marathon champion. "I have been doing a lot of miles, but I feel good going to the World Championships."

John Korir has been the Bix-master recently, winning five titles over the past eight years, but he couldn't add to his record total this year. Korir missed several major U.S. races earlier this summer due to visa problems, and nearly failed to get them cleared up in time for Bix. In addition, he said his training had been hampered the past two weeks by some headaches. "If Gilbert (Okari) shows up, then I lose," he predicted.

Perhaps Korir should have taken some of his prize money and gambled it at the nearby riverboat casinos, as he proved an adept handicapper in the race, finishing 25 seconds behind Okari's 32:24. That shouldn't have surprised many; while Korir has been out of action since winning Bloomsday on May 1, Okari, 26, used his absence to score victories at Peachtree and Boilermaker. His Bix win was his fourth major title of the season, and he's placed in the top 10 eight times.

"We train together and know each other well," he said of Korir. "I put some pressure to push the pace, but I was confident. I just kept running my own race against time, not against an opponent."

Okari wasn't the first to cross the finish line, however. For the second year, race organizers picked a runner to receive a head start, with a $3,100 prize - sponsored by the Rhythm City Casino - for beating the elites. This year Janelle Swanberg of Davenport, an attorney and executive director of H.E.L.P. Legal Aid, an organization that provides legal services to low income and senior citizens in the area, and a top age-group runner, was picked and started at the 2.4 mile point on the course. Swanberg delivered by beating Okari to the line in the unofficial time of 31:40. She was ecstatic afterwards for what the effort meant to her mission to assist her organization.

"This feeling is over the top," said Swanberg, when asked to compare this to her age group victories. "The money will help us tremendously as we work to have the light of equal justice for everyone shine brightly in the Quad Cities."

Jason Lehmkuhle, who attended college in Iowa at Drake, was the first American finisher in ninth at 33:34. Like Olaru and Ndereba, he'll run the marathon in Helsinki, but unlike them, he didn't have the race on his schedule until early this month when he was picked to replace Scott Larson on the five-man U.S. squad.

"I didn't really taper for this race, since I'm still doing mileage for Worlds," said Lehmkuhle, a member of Team USA Minnesota. "I was hoping to run mid-34, so to go 33:34 is great. It gives me a lot of confidence going into Helsinki."

Casey Owens, a two-time All-American at SW Missouri State, who hails from Des Moines, matched Lehmkuhle's placing with a 40:07.

In the masters races (40+), Lyubov Kremleva was the women's winner in 41:51 as the Russian edged 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson by two seconds. Kremleva and Benoit Samuelson were 14th and 15th in the overall women's results. For the men, Phil Kauder of Cascade, Iowa captured his second consecutive and third overall victory in the masters division with a time of 38:41. Dan Lawson of Gaithersburg, Md. was second in 39:51.

On a typical July morning in Iowa (69 degrees with 84% humidity), a total field of 16,711 including the Quick Bix 2 Mile participated at the event. On Friday, 3,500 area kids ran the Alcoa Junior Bix 7.

31st Quad-City Times Bix 7
Davenport, IA, Saturday, July 30, 2005

MEN
1) Gilbert Okari, Kenya, 32:24, New 2005 Automobile
2) John Korir, Kenya, 32:49, $4000
3) Linus Maiyo, Kenya, 32:50, $2500
4) Andrew Letherby, Australia, 32:52, $1500
5) Tibebu Yenew, Ethiopia, 33:05, $1000
6) Matthew Chesang, Kenya, 33:10, $900
7) Samuel Ndereba, Kenya, 33:22, $800
8) Nephat Kinyanjui, Kenya, 33:24, $700
9) Jason Lehmkuhle, USA/MN, 33:34, $600
10) Henry Kipchirchir, Kenya, 33:54, $500

WOMEN
1) Nuta Olaru, Romania, 36:53, New 2005 Automobile
2) Sally Barsosio, Kenya, 37:24, $4000
3) Catherine Ndereba, Kenya, 37:34, $2500
4) Edna Kiplagat, Kenya, 38:11, $1500
5) Luminita Talpos, Romania, 38:31, $1000
6) Teresa Wanjiku, Kenya, 38:36, $900
7) Victoria Klimina, Russia, 38:40, $800
8) Gladys Asiba, Kenya, 39:33, $700
9) Casey Owens, USA/MO, 40:07, $600
10) Anastasia Ndereba, Kenya, 40:16, $500

For more results, go to: Bix7.com