For 17 years, Rod Dixon was one of the best
runners in the world. He is an Olympic
Medallist, two time World Cross Country
Championship Medalist, and the 1500m
Champion of the United States, France, Great
Britain, and New Zealand. And, to this day,
his victory in the 1983 New York City
Marathon remains one of the most dramatic
finishes the event has ever seen.
Rod is now a passionate advocate of the
worldwide children’s health and fitness
movement. He knows that kids around the
world are not getting the physical exercise
and nutrition they need. It is Rod’s goal to
bring the KiDSMARATHON programme to
thousands of children around the world, so
they can experience the true value (and
fun!) of exercise and nutrition, and develop
positive life-long habits.
Over his career, Dixon beat all the
greats – Steve Prefontaine, John
Walker, Lasse Viren, Henry Rono, Ben
Jipcho, Brendan Foster, Dick Quax,
Emil Puttemans, and many other
world-class runners.
He was undoubtedly one of the
pioneers of the sport, helping lead
the world athletics transition from
the stone-age amateur days into the
modern professional era. He helped
pioneer the business of earning a
living from running. He grasped the
trust fund concept early and, with
the assistance of good legal
representation, was able to keep
prize money from races on the United
States road racing circuit while
others still anguished about whether
they could accept prize money.
Reflecting on his life of running,
Dixon nominates two moments as being
most memorable – the Olympic medal
and the New York City Marathon
victory.
