In the 1970s, many people started running. . . for both pleasure and exercise.
Popularized by people like Jim Fixx, distance running promised health benefits as well as a fun recreational opportunity. People in shorts and T-shirts could often be seen jogging down side streets on runs of several miles.
The popularity of running led to creation of a number of distance runs in communities across the U.S. In the Quad Cities a group called the Corn Belt Running Club organized the Bix 7 run, a seven-mile run up and down the hills of Davenport that celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
And a couple of years later, thanks to the efforts of Kewanee resident Nelson Lay, came the first Hog Day Stampede.
Held as part of Kewanee’s Hog Days celebration over Labor Day weekend, the Stampede is a four-mile run on city streets.
Mark Mikenas, executive director of the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce, said he expects as many as 700 entries altogether in the four-mile Stampede, the one-mile race and the “Kids fun run” of only a few blocks.
The chamber takes on the task of organizing the race. This involves marking out the race course in early August so runners can get an early look at where they’ll be going on race day.
The chamber also accepts race entries, hands out T-shirts to all participants and trophies to the winners and provides water and snacks for the racers.
Mikenas said interest in participating in the Stampede events peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when more than a thousand people signed up to run. But it’s still a big enough event that hundreds of people will take part. . .and hundreds more will find seats along the parade route where they can watch the race and cheer on the runners.
The four-mile Stampede starts on South Chestnut Street just north of Oak Street, heads south to Page Street and west to where it loops around and comes up West First Street to the finish line in front of the Kewanee YMCA.
As soon as all the runners and walkers have finished the Stampede, the Kids Fun Run is set up on West First Street. Younger kids run one block; the run is three blocks for the older ones.
And the mile race starts in front of the former Masonic lodge on Chestnut Street, heads south to Prospect and over to West Park, then comes back to First Street to finish in front of the Y.
“The Stampede is a gathering spot for a lot of people,” Mikenas said.
He said that each year some people register for the run and pay their entry fee, but don’t show up to race, maybe because they don’t feel they have the energy to run four miles.
“Or maybe they just want the T-shirt,” Mikenas said.
