Rob Dixon

Rob Dixon is a British former strongman competitor who was born in York in 1964 and is now an ultramarathon runner. He rose to prominence on the strength athletics circuit by winning Britain's Strongest Man in 1997, and he was a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man. Invited to the 2000 tournament in Sun City, South Africa, he came second in his group and so reached the final, but an injury forced him out after the second event and he placed tenth. He returned in 2001 and placed third in a close heat, just missing the final. While competing he lived in Sand Hutton and owned fitness centres in Haxby and Pocklington, and he helped train fellow strongman Mark Westaby, also from the York area, who went on to appear several times in the World's Strongest Man finals. After retiring he lost 100 pounds, took up ultramarathon running for charity and ran the 79 mile Wolds Way in 14 hours 56 minutes in July 2016. He later moved to France to concentrate on snowboarding.