Personalities In N.Z. Sport

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 755, 30 August 1929, Page 14

Personalities In N.Z. Sport

A famous old athlete is Ben T. Murray, who competes regularly week by week at the Auckland Amateur Athletic and Cycle Club's winter sports meetings. In his prime, 20 or 30 years ago, in the hey-dey of New Zealand s ath.etic history, Ben was recognised as one of the finest—by many held to be the finest—hurdler the Dominion has ever seen. Ren commenced his career at Auckland 35 or so years ago. He lived i.*r many years at Eilerslie, and during that time was at the height of his fame as a hurdler. His faultless style and quick jumping were always a theme tor admiration among those Mho saw him perforin. And ho excelled not only in hurdling, but also in 100, 220 and 440-vard track • vents, while he Mas a first-class footballer as a threequarter in the old Suburbs team. Murray was widely known for his recklessness, lie seemed to know no ! fear, and was always doing things, the wry thoughts of which were enough to make other athletes shudder. On one occasion some friends arranged a contest for him to jump against a pony that had something ot a reputation as a jumper at Ellershe. The contest was not over a bar. but over any the owner of the pony or the boy selected. Ben had the first pick and jumped the massive gates leading into the j racecourse. That won the contest! The rider of the pony wisely refrained from putting his pony at the gate. Murray raced all over the North Is- j land, competing many times at sports j meetings at Orakei, Thames, Fukekohe, ; Waiuku. lluntlv, Daxgaville, Karanga- I l.ake, Bucklaml. Papakura, Feilding. liangiriri, Ohaupo, Kahikahi, in and around Auckland and elsewhere. A feat in which lien still take%pride was that of being the only jumper who e\ er cleared the water jump at Filerslie—not as it is now. but as it was over 30 years ago. JSince those days the water jump has been considerably reduced in size. Watts tvas a champion hurdler ot those days also; In fact, the question as to which was

Once Dominion’s Greatest Hurdler

the greater has always been I hotly argued. The pair met once at Wanganui, and Watts defeated Murj ray. who came in second. This race was not, however, a true criterion of the abilities of either men. as Watts was past his prime, and Murray had dislocated his knee in a try-out before the race. There are many such tales of the doings of Ren Murray on the track. On one occasion at the Auckland Labour Day sports he won the 220 yards hurdles from scratch, 13 days after having broken his collarbone when training over the sticks. Murray's best race was perhaps at New Plymouth, in Exhibition year, when he was second in the 120 hurdles, beaten by a foot. Owing 13 yards, he actually ran 133 yards to come in behind “Bunny” Abbott, who had five yards from him. Ben, who had run all his life as a professional, retired in 1912, and 12 years later won the points cup at the Henderson Oddfellows sports, his son, B. M. Murray (who was Auckland hurdles champion in 1927) coming second. Ben was reinstated as an amateur in j January, 1927. and since then has been competing at the A.A.A. and C.C. winI ter sports meetings. Ben holds that athletes have a right to retain their activity as long as they j can. lie claims that in his 35 years on | the track he has never had to spend c 1 in doctors’ expenses, apart from injuries. He considers that this is due • to the fact that he has always kept in j training. Willingly, week by week, he gives the ‘ younger Auckland runners the benefit I of his wide experience on track and field. On Saturday last he won the 75 yards handicap sprint, and several times tliis season has figured as winner of one or other of the field events —throwing the discus and putting the shot. In the past two years he has scored 24 Mins and six seconds in events at winter sports meetings. Up to last Saturday, he has never taken a trophy for these events. He says he loves the sport, for the sport itself, and that’s the chief thing to him.