William Murray

William Murray joined the Melbourne Harriers competing in long-distance running. In 1910, he was the winner of the first marathon race in Melbourne. In the same year, he won the seven-mile open race at Brighton beating, among others, 1908 Olympic champion Emil Voigt and the Victorian 10 mile track race.

Murray also started race walking when he won his first competition in this sport after just having been asked to fill up the poor field of participants. During the next weeks, he won two more races beating the current Australian record holder. In 1911, he claimed the Victorian race walking titles of one and three miles breaking the 15-year-old Australasian record for one mile. One year later he repeated the feat in even faster times as a member of the Melbourne Walking and Touring Club. The NSWAAA (New South Wales Amateur Athletic Association) acknowledged his 14:49.4 over 3,500 m as a world record.

In 1912, Murray travelled to Stockholm to compete in the Olympic Games. In the heat of the 10 km race walk, he was one of three disqualified athletes. He did not start in either the 10,000 metres or the cross-country run. He continued his winning streak in Australia, winning the three-mile championship of Victoria another three times, making it five consecutive championships from 1911-15.

After serving in World War I, Murray returned, winning the first Victorian championship after the war in 1920. Although, he had retired from competitive sport he still climbed the championship podium for some years to come and competed occasionally until he was almost 50 years of age. In 1922 he was a founding member of the Victorian Amateur Walkers Club and was elected president of the Melbourne Harriers in 1930.

When he finally finished his athletic career he turned to golf, playing successfully well into his 80s. In 1971, at the age of 90, he was Australia‘s oldest active lawyer and walked to work four times a week. At the time of his death he was the oldest living pre-World War I Olympian.

Personal Best: 10kmW – unknown.