The 51st Quad City Times Bix 7 in 2025 marked another watershed moment for American distance running, as Alex Maier became the first American male winner of the Bix 7 featuring an international field since Marc Nenow won the title in 1989. (ADDENDUM: Oregon grad Ken Martin won Bix in 1991, and Kenyan-born Leonard Korir became an American citizen in 2016 and won the Bix 7 in 2021 against an international field. My apologies to Ken & Staff Sergeant Korir).

Maier, representing Puma Elite of Chapel Hill, NC, conquered both challenging weather and a strong international roster while running 32:02, the fifth fastest winning time in Bix history, and the fastest American time ever. Nenow’s previous American best at Bix was 32:17 in 1989.

A 2024 Oklahoma State graduate, Maier took on defending champion, Wesley Kiptoo of Kenya, a Big 12 rival out of Iowa State University (2022), in one of the best duels in BIX history.

After the race was delayed one hour due to thunderstorms that rumbled through the area last night, the field took off up Brady Street like they were spring loaded. On a 7% to 9% grade hill, equal to what the Tour de France riders are pedaling up in the Alps on their bicycles, the runners in Davenport seemed determined to stick with defending champion Wesley Kiptoo. 

Last year, he charged up Brady Street in 4:46 in the 1st mile and opened an insurmountable lead. This year though Wesley turned the screw even tighter, to 4:45, 15-20 seconds faster than the usual one mile split, almost the entire men’s elite field answered the challenge. 

But when they took the right hand turn onto Kirkwood Boulevard off Brady Street, rather than the 4:06 free-fall in mile two from last year, Kiptoo settled into a 4:30 second mile, one of the slowest in recent history.

That’s when Alex Maier pulled to the front and began to press the issue.

“ lI think, having a change in stimulus and a change in environment has been huge,” said the Oklahoma State grad who moved to Chapel Hill after graduating with an electrical engineering degree. “It was just a good way to reset and really get back in touch with why I love the sport.”

Maier and Kiptoo had tussled in the past at the NCAA level. And on both occasions, the Cyclone got the better of the Cowboy. At the 2021 Big 12 indoor Championships in Lubbock Texas, Wesley won the 5000m in 13:42, while Alex took third and 14:07. Two weeks later at the NCAA indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, Wesley ran 12th while Alex finished 16th.

But this year, after being freed from studies and running under the tutelage of husband/wife coaches Amy and Alistair Cragg at Puma Elite, Maier has blossomed. So far in 2025 he’s won three US road titles: the half marathon in March in Atlanta (1:00:58), 10 miles in March in Washington D. C. (45:15 American record), and 4 miles in June in Peoria, Illinois. Between the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and the Steamboat Classic four miler, Alex won the Düsseldorf Marathon in Germany in 2:08:33. 

“Not having the stress of balancing school and training was bigger than I thought it would be,” said the 25-year-old Maier.

It was the 10th time in 51 years that there’s been rain at Bix—the first time since 2010. But it was the first time the race was actually delayed due to the thunderstorms. 

In the women’s race, the pace was less aggressive than with the men. At 3 miles, Kenya’s Vibian Chepkirui hit the mark in 15:47, a 5:15 per mile average. Just three seconds behind her was Puma Elite’s Molly Born who, like Alex Maier, was an Oklahoma State cowboy grad. 

2 miles later Chepkirui still led, passing 5 miles in 26:20 but now Cynthia Limo, the 2015 and 2016 BIX champion, had supplanted Born in second. 

Those two battled the rest of the way until Vibian, who ran second at the 2025 Rio de Janeiro Marathon, pulled away in the final 600m along Third Street. 

Both champions won $12,500. And though it was soggy, there was plenty of heat coming off the heels of these athletes as the American roller coaster continues on its upward swing.

Building on the Olympic gold and bronze by Cole Hocker and Yared Negusse in the 1500m, and double bronze for Grant Fisher in both the 5000m and 10,000m in Paris, plus Hobbs Kessler’s World Road Mile title in 2024, Maier’s win adds to the impressive American climb back up the distance-running ranks, a position they once held comfortably two generations ago.

“In distance running, it seems like the bar across everything is being moved up,” said Alex at the awards ceremony. “The ultimate goal is that I can hopefully contribute to that.”

Next week, it’s Joan Benoit Samuelson‘s TD Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. There, 2024 US Olympic marathoners Connor Mantz and Clayton Young will take on another top international field.

Top 5

1. Alex Maier – USA 32:02
2. Wesley Kiptoo – KEN 32:14
3. Nathan Martin – USA 32:44
4. Tsegay Tuemay – ERI 32:51
5. Rory Linkletter – CAN 32:56

Top 5 Women

1. Vibian Chepkirui – KEN 36:41
2. Cynthia Limo – KEN 36:45
3. Julia Paternain – URA 36:55
4. Evelyn Kemboi Zken – 37:05
5. Rachel Chebet – UGA 37:17