Honoured at last: Olympic legend that Northern Ireland forgo

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Honoured at last: Olympic legend that Northern Ireland forgot

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A fleet-footed postman who became an Olympic Gold medallist has been honoured with a blue plaque in the Co Antrim village where he was born.

Fellow Gold-winner Dame Mary Peters unveiled the Ulster History Circle plaque for Kennedy Kane McArthur at a ceremony in the Community Building on the Knock Road, Dervock on Saturday.

McArthur, known affectionately as 'Big Ken' because of his size at six feet three, was born in Dervock on February 10 1881.

His achievement had largely been forgotten until recently.

The second of five children, he attended the local National School and became well known to people in the area when he was spotted sprinting on his postal round and racing against trains on the narrow gauge line to Ballymoney.

The Co Antrim man emigrated to South Africa around 1900 as a volunteer member of the Baden-Powell South African Constabulary, and after the Anglo-Boer War he joined the South African Police.

He seldom patrolled on horseback, preferring to walk around his patch and left the service as a sergeant in 1931. McArthur only took up running as a sport when he was in South Africa, where he won cross-country medals and was an accomplished marathon runner.

In Durban in 1909, when the marathon record stood at 2:44:31, he completed with an astonishing winning time of 2:44:36 and celebrated his win by smoking a bowl of his favourite brand tobacco.

Big Ken (below) then honed his skill on running tracks, setting national records in 1911 for five and 10 miles, before representing South Africa in the marathon at the Stockholm Olympic Games.

On Sunday July 14, 1912, some 68 runners from 19 countries gathered under the blistering sun to take part in the marathon. The reported temperature on the day of the race was 32c in the shade.

In the sweltering heat McArthur's spirits were buoyed by a voice from the crowd shouting: "Come on Antrim - come on ye boy, ye." After his victory with a time of 2:36:54:8, McArthur said: "I went out to win or die, and it was worth two and a half years working and waiting for."

Following Stockholm, McArthur was treated to a hero's welcome when he visited Ballymoney, but unfortunately his running career ended in 1913 when he sustained a foot injury. McArthur retired to Dervock with his wife, Johanna Louw. The South African Sport and Arts Hall of Fame inductee later returned to South Africa, where he died aged 79 in Potchefstroom in 1960.

As Dame Mary Peters unveiled the blue plaque, the Kennedy Kane McArthur Half Marathon also took place.