Kennedy Kane "Ken" McArthur (February 10, 1881 – June 13, 1960) is most noted as a

track and field athlete Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

and winner of the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

Biography

Born in

Dervock Dervock ( or ''Dairbheog'') is a small village and townland (of 132 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about 3.5 miles (6 km) northeast of Ballymoney, on the banks of the River Bush. It is situated in the civil parish of De ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, McArthur was recognised as a promising athlete as a teenager, but he didn't pursue an athletics career until after emigrating to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1901 at the age of 20. After joining the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Police Force in 1906, McArthur begun to take athletics seriously. Soon he had won the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

half and one mile championships, the five mile track championship and also two national cross country championships. McArthur ran his first marathon late in the 1908 season, and surprisingly beat the Olympic silver medalist

Charles Hefferon Charles Archer Hefferon (25 January 1878 – 13 May 1932) was an athlete representing South Africa who competed mainly in the marathon. Hefferon was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, to an Irish father and an English mother but moved w ...

. He also won the national one and ten mile championships. The

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Olympic marathon took place in sweltering heat. Representing South Africa in the event, McArthur and his teammate Christian Gitsham ran together and soon took the lead. Confident of victory, Gitsham stopped for water, expecting his colleague to join him, as agreed. Instead McArthur ran on, stretching his lead and taking him to certain victory over Gitsham by 58 seconds. In the next season, McArthur injured his foot in an accident and was forced to retire from athletics. He ran six marathon races (including the Olympic marathon) throughout his career and never lost one.

References

External links

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Kennedy McArthur
' at the ''South African Sport and Arts Hall of Fame'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur, Ken 1881 births 1960 deaths Irish emigrants to South Africa South African male long-distance runners South African male marathon runners Sportspeople from County Antrim Olympic athletes of South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for South Africa Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics South African police officers Irish male marathon runners Irish male long-distance runners Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)