Event aims to motivate youngsters

Rod Dixon was a world-class marathoner in his prime, but his running career had humble beginnings.

The New Zealand native said he wasn't allowed to join his local running club until he was 12 years old. And after joining and going out to compete in the mile for the first time, the results certainly didn't point to him becoming an elite runner.

"I did a 12:33 mile at age 12," Dixon said Tuesday.

But by age 20, he was a 4-minute miler and on his way to marathon fame. At 33, he won the 1983 New York City Marathon in one of the most memorable finishes ever. He caught Geoff Smith at the 26-mile mark and engaged in a 385-yard sprint to the finish line, pulling away in the final 100 yards or so.

"I had my 18 seconds of fame leading the New York Marathon," he said.

Winning is much less a concern now for the 59-year-old Dixon, who is focused on his role with the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon as the face of Kids Rock Las Vegas, an event designed to get elementary school children off the couch and out running around.

On Dec. 5, the day before the marathon and half-marathon, hundreds of kids will run a mile with Dixon at the UNLV track.

"It has a lot of importance and a lot of meaning to me," he said. "I started my first kids program in 1990 in New Zealand. Even then, we had the issue of kids just not moving, with the early signs of obesity. More and more, kids are less active. But it's never too late to get kids engaged. One small experience can lead them into a lifetime of fitness and wellness and healthy attitudes."

Dixon would like that experience for locals to be the 1-mile run. Many local students already are signed up in a program in which they run 25 miles leading up to the Dec. 5 event. But any child who wants to participate in just that final mile can still register to run, jog or walk. And ability is not an issue.

"A lot of kids feel that because they're not the winner, that the effort was meaningless," Dixon said. "We've got to let kids know that participating is just as important. Winning is finishing, and finishing is winning."

For entry information, go to www.las-vegas.competitor.com.

• ENTRIES ON TORRID PACE -- The Rock 'n' Roll event has already broken 25,000 entries, and general manager Adam Zocks said it could surpass 27,000.

As of Monday afternoon, there were 25,623 runners, with 18,285 in the half-marathon and 7,338 in the 26.2-mile race.

"This is actually pretty strong on the marathon side. It's usually more like a 3-1 ratio," Zocks said. "We should end up around 8,000 on the full and 20,000 on the half."

Online registration ends Sunday night, and after that, runners will have to wait until the event's expo opens on Dec. 4 to sign up. Zocks said the event has an unofficial cap of 27,500, so he encouraged anyone waiting to sign up soon.

"They're all coming to see what a Rock 'n' Roll event is going to be like in Las Vegas," Zocks said.

To enter, or for more information, go to www.las-vegas.competitor.com.

Contact reporter Patrick Everson at peverson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353.