Managing 110 portable toilets and 10 Elvis impersonators, the job description is all over the place.
As a musician and a runner, Chris Nelson can keep up.
He is leading the entertainment committee for this year’s Quad-City Times Bix 7, stepping in after the death last year of chairman Rick McGrath. Also assistant race director, McGrath died in December, following complications related to COVID-19.
“The end of May is when I really started diving into it all,” Nelson said. “Taking over for Rick McGrath is a huge undertaking. I’m learning as I go. He did a lot of stuff — just did it.”
Part of the job is juggling two dozen entertainment acts, ranging from cheerleaders and drum lines to bagpipers, bands and the local ukulele club.
As director of music for St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport and organist at Augustana College in Rock Island, Nelson knows music. Thanks to Bix Race Director Michelle Juehring, he also knows running.
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The two worked together at the church and frequently ran together, though Nelson didn’t get serious about it until just a few years ago.
“I always swore I’d never run a marathon, and I’m running three this year,” he said. “I enjoy running; I get lost in running. When I turned 40, I decided to start changing things.”
Those changes were largely the result of a health scare, which inspired Nelson to “step out of my element,” he said.
“Now it’s time to share what I get out of it,” he said. “Since everything with my health, I wanted to enjoy my life. I try not to get worked up about things.
“It makes you look at your life and make sure you’re enjoying it. It’s important to have a good time and be with your friends and community — enjoy a beer together after a run.”
Helping supply entertainment on the Bix route accomplishes two goals: sharing a love of music and a love of running.
“I found a community in running, and I want other people to enjoy the benefits of it,” he said. “I look at it as an opportunity to pass along some passion.”
New leadership can produce change, and Nelson said race organizers have a few things in mind, including the choice of singers for the national anthem. Longtime Bix performer Jack Carey has retired, and Nelson’s committee held auditions to choose a replacement.
They chose three singers, rather than just one, to sing at the starting line, the sprints and at the after party.
“I do quite a few races, mostly 5Ks, and you hear a lot of voices when you do that,” Nelson said of the pool of local singers. “I think it’s fair to offer a fairly prestigious opportunity to sing in front of thousands of people to a number of people, rather than just one.”
“You always want to leave your mark,” he said. “Two years is the 50th running of the Bix, so we’re thinking of ways to do big things. For right now, I’m learning.”
