Rod Dixon

Olympian Rod Dixon winner of the 1983 New York City Marathon and bronze medal winner of the 1500 meters at the 1972 Olympic Games. Rod also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and prior to Montreal (1995) Track and Field magazine ranked him first in the world for the 5000 meters event. He eventually turned to road-running and was one of the more successful athletes on the US road racing circuit in the early '80s, including wins at the Falmouth Road Race (1980), Bay to Breakers (1982 & 1983), the Lynchburg, Virginia 10 miler (1981 & 1983), and the Philadelphia Half-Marathon (1980, 1981). His gradual move to longer distances culminated in his 1983 marathon victory in New York City. He finished 10th in the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and in the 1985 Bay to Breakers when he was unable to compete due to an injury he guided a blind runner to the finish. Dixon's athletic triumphs include: winning the national 1500m titles of New Zealand, France, U.S.A, and Great Britan; running the fifth fastest 1500m of all time (3:33.89) in 1974 at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games. 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. In addition to his running, for three years he was race director of Auckland's Round the Bays run, which boasts some 80,000 runners, and was appointed as the coach for the Fijian Olympic team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Rod is the founder of the Rod Dixon's KiDSMARATHON charity which helps educate KiDS about exercise and nutrition, empowering them to take their health into their own hands, and inspiring them with visits from running champions.