Stawell Gift

The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short distance running race. It is run over every Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, 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 "marked" by between 0 m and 10 m to theoretically reach the finish line at the same time. This process is administered by the Victorian Athletic League (VAL). Due to the relatively short handicap limit, the class of runners that can potentially win the event is limited compared to other Gifts in Australia.

The winner is, hypothetically, the runner who can best "rise to the occasion" and perform better than their previous form, although the key can often be to perform slightly below their best in lead-up events and thus receive a favourable handicap.

The Stawell Gift began in 1878 at the end of the gold rush, as the "Easter Gift" of ₤24 (several thousands in today's dollars) conducted by the Stawell Athletic Club in a program of seven races, most run in multiple heats. 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 Woolworths and the finals are televised live around Australia.

The event was historically run over 130 yards (118.9 m). In 1973 the race converted to the metric system, and the distance was altered to 120 metres (131.2 yd), essentially an identical distance. Electronic timing was introduced in 1982 thus allowing higher precision in race results.

In 2010 the Gift track was found to be around 3 metres too long, with times much slower than expected during the heats.

...
Wikipedia