Instead of a timing chip or a stopwatch, it will take a calendar to determine the winner of this friendly competition within the competition of the Quad-City Times Bix 7.

With the start of the 35th annual 7-mile race through the streets of Davenport just days away, the only five people who have participated in each of the first 34 Bix 7 races are preparing to head to the starting line once again.

"It's a matter of pride at this point. I think we'll all be out there as long as we're capable," Steve Clark of Rock Island said. "I've joked with my family that they better hope I make it to race day or it's going to be awfully heavy for them to push my casket up and down all those hills."

Clark isn't the only one who will compete in his 35th Bix 7 on Saturday.

Gary Fischer of Iowa City, Don Fish of Davenport, Kerry Gannon of Orion, Ill., and Ed Lillis of Rock Island also were among the 84 competitors in the first Bix 7 in 1975 and will celebrate another milestone run this weekend.

"This is the only run I do anymore, and I think it's probably the other four guys who keep me coming back," Fischer said. "It's a friendly competition, and none of us wants to be the first to drop out."

Fish said the race provides an outlet for each of the original competitors to continue to stay in shape.

"Bix has always been a way to encourage fitness, and all five of us probably got into it because we were trying to keep fit. That hasn't changed, but coming back has become an obsession for each of us," Fish said.

Gannon said that friendships have developed among the five over the years.

"The best thing is that they are all really good people and we look forward to seeing each other from time to time," he said. "It's our claim to fame."

Fischer sees that among the reasons the Bix 7 has been so successful over the years.

"Where else can also-ran athlete like myself compete in the same event with the best in the world? That's always been part of the attraction of the Bix 7. It's a unique race," Fischer said.

For most, the Bix 7 has become a family event.

Fischer's daughter, Becky, is coming home from Kansas City, Mo., and Gannon's daughter, Heather, will come from Chicago to run with her father on the course.

"My wife runs it, my sister has run it, both of my kids have run it and for us, it's an annual date that is circled on the calendar," Gannon said. "I think it's that way for a lot of families. It's a time to get together and enjoy an activity that the entire family can participate in."

There have been years when participation isn't always easy.

Clark recalls twisting an ankle one year when he stepped into a hole covered by leaves as he trained during the week prior to the race.

"I was still on crutches on Thursday, but I made it to the starting line and completed the race," Clark said. "It's Bix and I was going to find a way."

Lillis is working his way back from hip replacement surgery last December and expects to "gut one out" this year.

"From a performance standpoint, I'm not looking forward to this year's race, but I know I will be able to get through it and I am looking forward to the race," Lillis said. "Time in general goes by so fast and it doesn't seem possible it has been 35 years, but the numbers don't lie."

While thoughts of finishing among the leaders disappeared years ago, there are other reasons the five most-experienced entries in the Bix 7 field have kept coming back.

"This race has always been so well supported," Fischer said. "Unless you go to the Boston Marathon or something close to that magnitude, there isn't a race out there where runners will find the support they get from the crowd at the Bix."

Fish said community and crowd support and the race's organizational structure also make it unique.

"From the participation of the Cornbelt Running Club, the support of the Times and the work of Ed (Froehlich) as the race director over the years, the Bix is truly a community event," Fish said. "That separates it from a number of other races out there. It's special, and it has been since its early years."

Based on race entry statistics, 55 percent of the competitors in the 2008 Bix 7 weren't even born when the first Bix 7 was held.

The hills were every bit as challenging and an out-and-back course still provided competitors with a chance to catch a glimpse of the top entries, but the race was a bit different then.

Runners tackled the hill on Perry Street instead of climbing and descending on Brady Street and few spectators lined the course.

"We welcomed the chance to have a place to run," Fish said. "There weren't many runs or even places to run back then, so most of us simply ran on the roads. I remember people throwing cans at me or swerving their cars at us when they'd drive up behind runners. It wasn't easy being a runner back then. But then, like now, the love of the sport kept you going."

Fischer recalls having a hard time locating anyone who could direct him to the starting line to the first Bix 7.

"Fortunately, I made it to the start on time," he said. "These days, you just follow the crowd."

But, the Bix 7 has always provided runners with a chance to "run with the best."

The inaugural field of 84 - the largest-ever gathering of runners in the Quad-Cities at that time - included a pair of world-class entries, 1975 Boston Marathon runner-up Steve Hoag and Lucian Rosa of Sri Lanka.

Rosa won the race and made a definite impression on competitors in the race that was held in conjunction with the young Bix Jazz Festival.

"I remember coming out of the building where I worked in downtown Davenport at the time seeing Lucian sitting on the stoop of another building. I noticed that his toes were sticking out of his shoes," Gannon said. "I can still picture that today."

Lillis recalls running just behind inaugural women's winner Kim Merritt for a few miles before she pulled away.

"I remember seeing Rosa as well, leading the field all by himself by a ridiculous margin," Lillis said. "When we went up that first hill, I remember there were gaps between runners. There aren't any gaps anymore. It's grown into quite a spectacle and I'm proud to be a part of it."

The survivors

Steve Clark

Age: 62

Residence: Rock Island

1975 time: 59:09

Last year's finish time: 1:33.33

Don Fish

Age: 59

Residence: Davenport

1975 time: 49:54

Last year's finish time: 52:45

Gary Fischer

Age: 67

Residence: Iowa City

1975 time: 48:32

Last year's finish time: 1:23.20

Kerry Gannon

Age: 59

Residence: Orion, Ill.

1975 time: 47:14

Last year's finish time: 1:06.32

Ed Lillis

Age: 63

Residence: Rock Island

1975 time: 46:39

Last year's finish time: 1:14.47