Top elite field also includes eight athletes who qualified to compete for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus on Saturday, July 25
BETHESDA, MD – (July 22, 2026) – The PRRO Circuit, America’s Classic Road Races™, will hold its 29th PRRO Championship at the 52nd Quad-City Times Bix 7 on Saturday morning, July 25 in Davenport, IA. Hosting its second PRRO Championship (the first was in 1997), the 7 mile race is expecting a top elite field, including defending women’s PRRO Champion Veronica Loleo, 2024 Bix champion Wesley Kiptoo and Iowa native & rising star Kassie Parker. The Bix 7 offers a $50,000 prize purse, going 10-deep with $12,500 for each race champion and a $1000 course record bonus.
In addition, the PRRO Championship will also award the following prize money:
- $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus to male or female Bix 7 winners who are either defending PRRO Champions, have won any of the PRRO Circuit 2025-26 races or finished top 5 in the points system (Super Bonus split if both eligible male and female win)
- $2500 to male or female Championship winners who have not won any races on the 2025-26 Circuit
- $1500 to eligible PRRO event champions, males and females, finishing in places 2-10
The 2026 PRRO Championship titlists at Bix will also earn automatic berths to compete for the PRRO Super Bonus at the 30th PRRO Championship at the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville, FL in March 2028. In 2025, John Korir and Veronica Loleo won the PRRO titles at the Boilermaker 15K and also claimed and split equally the $20,000 PRRO Super Bonus. The bonus resets to $10,000 the year after it has been won and grows by $5000 each year it is unclaimed.
“Like past editions, the 29th PRRO Championship at Bix 7 should produce some exciting, down-to-the-wire racing for the respective crowns, particularly with eight athletes, including the women’s defending PRRO Champion, Veronica Loleo, in the mix for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus,” said Don Kardong, PRRO Circuit President.
At Bix 2026, below are the eight confirmed PRRO Super Bonus athletes eligible to compete for the $10,000 bonus:
FOUR AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS BY CIRCUIT EVENT WIN (in date order)
- Veronica Loleo, Kenya (Boilermaker 15K 2025), defending women’s champion
- Mohammed El Youssfi, Morocco (Gate River Run 15K & Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile 2026)
- Reid Buchanan, USA (Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K 2026)
- Kassie Parker, USA (Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K & Steamboat Classic 4 Mile 2026)
FOUR QUALIFIED BY TOP 5 FINISH IN PRRO POINTS SYSTEM
Scored points by finishing between 2nd – 10th from at least one 2025-26 PRRO Circuit race
- Graydon Morris, USA, first place
- Everlyn Kemboi, Kenya, first place
- Victor Shitsama, Kenya, second place
- Wesley Kiptoo, Kenya, fifth place
The elite fields expected at Bix 7 include:
MEN: Wesley Kiptoo (KEN), 2024 Quad-City Times Bix 7 champion and 2025 Bix runner-up; Mohammed El Youssfi (MAR), 2026 Gate River Run 15K & Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile winner; Reid Buchanan (USA), 2026 Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K winner and third 2023 Bix 7; Graydon Morris (USA), 2026 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile runner-up; Biya Simbassa (USA), 2023 Bix 7 champion; Peter Lynch (IRL), ninth 2026 London Marathon (2:06:08) and third 2025 Gate River Run 15K; Amon Kemboi (KEN) 2025 Falmouth Road Race champion; and Frank Lara (USA), 2020 USATF 15K champion and ’21 Bix runner-up
WOMEN: Veronica Loleo (KEN) defending PRRO women’s champion; Kassie Parker (USA), 2026 Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K & Steamboat Classic 4 Mile winner; Everlyn Kemboi (KEN), third 2026 Gate River Run 15K and fourth 2025 Bix 7; Priscah Cherono (KEN), 2026 Los Angeles Marathon champion & third Boilermaker 15K; Ednah Kurgat (USA), sixth 2026 New York Mini 10K and 2025 USA 20K Championship runner-up; Netsanet Desta (ETH), sixth 2026 Boilermaker 15K; and Sara Hall (USA), 2014 Bix 7 runner-up
The other Bix events – Senior Bix (July 21), Brady Street Sprints (July 23) and Arconic Jr. Bix 7 (July 24) – all lead up to the Quad-City Times Bix 7 mile race which also includes “Beat the Elite” runners and the Prairie Farms Quick Bix just under 2 miles on July 25. Overall, at the 2026 event, more than 16,500 will run, walk or sprint on the streets of Davenport.
The PRRO Circuit showcases world class competition at six of America’s Classic Road Races™, the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville, FL, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in Washington, DC, the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K in Spokane, WA, the Steamboat Classic 4 Mile in Peoria, IL, the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY and the Quad-City Times Bix 7 in Davenport, IA. The 2025-26 PRRO Circuit offers more than $440,000 in guaranteed prize money overall with $148,100 for U.S. athletes. The PRRO Circuit, a nationwide series of premier non-marathon road racing events, is organized and promoted by the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO), an alliance of race directors.
Schedule and PRRO Super Bonus event qualifiers below:
THE PRRO CIRCUIT 2025-26 SCHEDULE
Quad-City Times Bix 7, July 26, 2025, Davenport, IA
$50,000 in prize money
WINNERS: Alex Maier*, USA, 32:02 and Vibian Chepkirui*, Kenya, 36:41
Gate River Run 15K, March 7, 2026, Jacksonville, FL
$72,000 in prize money ($23,000 U.S. prize money) plus $5000 Equalizer gender race and World, U.S. & course record bonus money
WINNERS: Mohammed El Youssfi*, Morocco, 43:26 and Chloe Herbiet*, Belgium, 47:58
Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, April 12, 2026, Washington, DC
$80,600 in prize money ($48,600 U.S. prize money) plus performance bonuses
WINNERS: Mohammed El Youssfi*, Morocco, 46:17 and Asayech Ayichew*, Ethiopia, 50:37
50th Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K, May 3, 2026, Spokane, WA
$81,000 in prize money ($20,000 U.S. prize money)
WINNERS: Reid Buchanan*, USA, 34:30 and Kasandra Parker*, USA, 39:21
Steamboat Classic 4 Mile, June 6, 2026, Peoria, IL
$43,200 in U.S. prize money plus 2 Mile Prime and U.S. record bonus money
WINNERS: Ahmed Muhumed*, USA, 17:57 and Kasandra Parker*, USA, 20:16
Boilermaker 15K, July 12, 2026, Utica, NY
$65,100 in prize money ($14,500 U.S. prize money)
WINNERS: Alex Matata*, KEN, 42:24 and Tsigie Gebreselama*, ETH, 47:29 (event record)
THE 29th PRRO CHAMPIONSHIP
Quad-City Times Bix 7, July 25, 2026, Davenport, IA
$50,000 in prize money plus $1000 course record bonus as well as:
- $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus to male or female Bix winners who are either defending PRRO Champions, have won any of the PRRO Circuit 2025-26 races or finished top 5 in the points system (Super Bonus split if both eligible male and female win)
- $2500 to male or female Championship winners who have not won any races on the 2025-26 Circuit
- $1500 to eligible PRRO event champions, males and females, finishing in places 2-10
*Qualified to compete for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus at the 2026 PRRO Championship.
With their 2025 PRRO Championship titles at Boilermaker, John Korir and Veronica Loleo were the first two athletes eligible to compete for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus at the 2026 PRRO Championship hosted by the Quad-City Times Bix 7. In pursuit of the Super Bonus, the pair will join the winners of the 2025-26 Circuit events as well as the top 5 per gender in the PRRO Circuit points system (2-10 finishers score points at each current Circuit race; except, 2-5 finishers score at a U.S.-only Circuit race).
To-date, PRRO Circuit events have produced 18 world and 24 U.S. road records, awarded more than $9.2 million in prize money and seen more than 2.9 million runners cross their finish lines. In addition, since 1996, the PRRO Championship race has paid out more than $2.2 million including $218,500 in PRRO Championship bonus money.
PRRO Championship and Circuit Year
The PRRO Circuit, launched in 1995, starts and finishes the Circuit Year at the same event that will also host the season-ending PRRO Championship race. The reigning titlists of the PRRO Championship, the event winners on the current Circuit and the top 5 in the PRRO points system are eligible to compete for the PRRO Super Bonus at the PRRO Championship.
Visit PRRO.org for more information, including its history, past champions and recently announced PRRO-lific program, as well as how to join the PRRO Circuit.