Stawell Gift

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The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short distance running race. It is run over every Easter weekend, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, Stawell in the Grampian Mountains district of western Victoria. The race is run on grass over 120 metres up a slight gradient. Competitors are handicapped according to their form, with each competitor handicapped to reach the finish line at the same time. The winner is, theoretically, the runner who can best, figuratively, 'rise to the occasion' and perform better than their previous form. This process is administered by the Victorian Athletic League, commonly referred to as the VAL. Due to the relatively short handicap limit, the class of runners that can potentially win the event are limited compared to other Gifts in Australia.

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[edit] History

The first Stawell Gift was in 1878, as a fun race between miners at the end of the gold rush. It has been raced every year since, except for four years during the Second World War. Originally it was the townspeople putting together an entertainment package to happen over Easter, complete with 'special trains' to the event. Today it is the most prestigious footrace in Australia, with a $40,000AUD first prize. The event is sponsored by Australia Post and the finals are televised live around Australia.

[edit] Format

On the Easter Saturday there are 24 heats, with the winner of each heat going through to the semi finals, and the fastest runners making it to the final.

The Gift is run on a grass track in front of the 100 year-old Stawell Grandstand, and the athletes run in lanes that are separated by lane ropes.

The idea of the handicap system is that all runners would theoretically cross the line at the same time. The handicapper works out what mark or handicap the runner will have according to their previous performances in the sprint, currently the most a runner may be handicapped is 10 metres, although this is occasionally increased to 11. Each metre in handicap approximately denotes a tenth of a second.

The handicapping system usually ends up pitting local runners against international professionals.

Gambling is allowed in the venue, and there is an extensive Bookmaker's compound.

[edit] Records

[edit] The first winner 1878

W J (Billy) Millard of Condah [1]

[edit] Winners from scratch

Only two people have ever won the race running from scratch (0m handicap), Olympic Gold Medallist Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa in 1975 and Athens 2004 Olympian and Multiple Australia 100m champion Joshua Ross in 2005.

[edit] Multiple winners

Only three sprinters have won the race more than once, Bill Howard (1966, 1967) Barry Foley (1970, 1972) and Joshua Ross (2003, 2005).

[edit] VFL winners

The following Gift winners also played senior VFL football:

[edit] Recent winners

Recent winners of the Stawell Gift are:

[edit] Stawell Gift Olympians

Four Australian Olympians have won the Stawell Gift:

[edit] Relocation

On a number of occasions there has been discussions about relocating the Stawell Gift for economic reasons.

On February 14, 2001, after much discussion about moving the event to Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Premier Steve Bracks announced on ABC Local Radio that the Gift would be staying in Stawell and the State Government's $40,000 contribution would continue[2].

On July 14, 2009, it was announced that Ballarat had offered the Stawell Athletic Club more than $1 million in cash and incentives, including a $20,000 grant to the Stawell Gift Hall of Fame, to relocate the Gift from Central Park in Stawell to Ballarat City Oval for five years. The Club released a statement through Secretary Ian Lawrie stating they were considering the offer but the decision is, without question, the most difficult ever undertaken by the Committee of the Stawell Athletic Club. He said the Club would investigate and exhaust all other options to ensure the survival of Australia’s most famous footrace[3][4].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stawell Gift website, History, http://www.stawellgift.com/images/stories/HistoricDocs/First%2520100%2520Years.pdf, retrieved on 2008-10-17 
  2. ^ ABC The World Today, The World Today Archive: Stawell Gift to stay put, http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s246359.htm, retrieved on 2009-07-14 
  3. ^ Herald Sun, Ballarat launches bid to poach Stawell Gift, http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25779836-661,00.html, retrieved on 2009-07-14 
  4. ^ ABC Sport, Ballarat looks to poach Stawell Gift, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/14/2625318.htm, retrieved on 2009-07-14 
 This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)
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