LAST RACE ENDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 77, 31 March 1928, Page 12

LAST RACE ENDED.

FAMOUS HURDLER PASSES. DEATH OF MR. W. H. MARTIN. BREAKER OF WORLD'S RECORDS.

One of the world's best hurdlers in his time, Mr. William Hurst Martin, was laid to rest at St. Luke's cemetery this afternoon. Mr. Martin, being in the prime of life, passed away suddenly at his farm. East Tamaki, on Thursday. He was the son of the late Mr. William Hurst Martin and was born in the | Mount Albert district. In 1896 he won the 120 yards and 440 yards Australia and New Zealand hurdling championships and in 1895-6 he was champion of New Zealand. His brother, Mr. A. A. Martin, ex-chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, has also a record as a hurdler. The late Mr. "Billie" Martin, as he was familiarly called by his sporting friends, had been associated with all kinds of sport in Auckland for the past forty years. It was in the early 'nineties that he was at the top of his fame, and together with his brother, he accounted for most of the hurdle events run at the amateur athletic meetings in Auckland for a period of two years. He was keen oa hunting and successfully exhibited hunters at various agricultural shows in the Auckland Province. In the days in which Mr. Martin used to compete on the Domain it was common for upwards of 20,000 spectators to be lined around the arena. One particular effort in his career is outstanding. Austin Smith was starter, and "Billie" Martin was competing in the 120 yards hurdles, being twenty yards behind scratch. He broke twice and was put back on the 22 yards mark. The next time he "got the gun," and, shooting out like a hare, was soon j leading the field. He did the distance j of 142 yards in the great time of 16 3-ss. His first win in the championship class was at Napier, and during his training it was "Billie's" habit to walk from the city to his home in Mount Albert, practising the "bent leg" style of hurdling. In Martin's career one memorable race is recorded. It was the occasion of the Australian and New Zealand championship meeting held on the Auckland Domain in 1897. The race of the day was the 440 yards hurdle championship, the competitors being Martin, the holder of the title, T. Roberts and A. Holder, the latter of Wanganui. The previous year Martin had won the title in 645. The world's record at that time stood at 61s. Roberts, on one occasion, after the 1896 championship meeting, had a try at the record, and reduced the time to 60s, he being the first New Zealander to lower a world's record on the amateur athletic track. The "dark horse" in the race was Arthur Holder, who was to later prove himself as possibly the greatest athlete the Dominion has known. In a few words, a memorable race can be told. Holder went to the front as soon as the pistol cracked, and stayed there. Literally, he won all the way. The crowd gasped when the figures were hoisted. They were 58 4-ss. It was a new world's record, which stood until George Smith, another well-known New Zealand hurdler and a member of the famous 1905 All Blacks, set up fresh figures in Melbourne in 1904.

Mr. Martin, who was fifty-eight years of age, was a good judge of light horseH and hacks and hunting classes at shows throughout the Auckland Province, more particularly in the north. He was a member of the Masonic order, and in the words of a well-known sportmg friend of his, "He was the gamest man who even put on running shoes."