Rod Dixon

A youthful-looking Rod Dixon popped up on the television the other day. Of the three great New Zealand middle-distance runners of the 1970s (John Walker and Dick Quax were the other two), Dixon was my favourite. Walker may have outshone him with his world record in the mile and Olympic gold in the 1500 metres, but Dixon was an extremely versatile athlete, posting world class times in everything from the 1500 metres through to the marathon.

Perhaps Dixon's greatest single achievement was winning the New York City Marathon in 1983. I remember watching this race live on television. It had what has been described as one of the most dramatic finishes the event has ever seen, with Dixon overtaking Geoff Smith of England in the final kilometre through Central Park to win by eight seconds in what was then the tenth fastest time for the marathon.

Here's a nice article about Dixon. And below is a recent video of Dixon talking about his New York City Marathon win with clips of the race. The scene at the end with Dixon raising his hands in the air while Smith collapses over the finishing line says it all.

The real-life murder case behind Any Human Heart

William Boyd's Any Human Heart has been turned into a TV mini-series, and to coincide with its screening in the UK, the Scottish author has penned an article for The Guardian about one of the real-life events portrayed in the novel. Also in the excellent Books section of the Guardian website is this funny piece by New Zealand author Lloyd Jones.