The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race in Stawell, Victoria, Australia. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on 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 carnival encompasses events for both men and women of all ages and abilities, across distances from 70 to 3,200 metres.History at official website, 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2020
The final of the iconic main 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 and 10 metres or more 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. In 2020, the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the first time since World War 2. In 2021, branded as the "Powercor Stawell Gift", the race was run at its usual Easter long weekend dates on 3–5 April.
History
The Stawell Gift began in 1878, at the end of the Victorian gold rush, as the "Easter Gift", with prize money 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, and in 2020 due to the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic.
1920 winner, Archibald Gordon Cashmore was born in Stawell, thus becoming the first local to win this prestigious event. Cashmore was also a soldier in World War One.
In 1937, the event celebrated its diamond jubilee with £1,500 in prize money, making it the richest footrace in the world.
Originally it was part of a number of entertainments put on by the townspeople 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 finals are televised live around Australia, and internationally.
The event was historically run over . In 1973, the race converted to the metric system, and the length of the track was altered to , essentially an identical distance. Electronic timing was introduced in 1982, thus allowing greater precision in determining race results.
In recognition of the late Eric Cumming's contribution to professional running,Knox, Ken, "A Cumming to go one place better", The Age, (Monday, 15 April 1974), p.19. (Australia's only Powderhall Gift winner) the Stawell Athletic Club awards the most successful sprinter over 70 m, 120 m, and 200 m, at its annual Stawell Gift carnival, the Eric Cumming Memorial trophy.
In July 2009, the city of Ballarat made a bid to poach the Gift. It offered the Stawell Athletic Club A$1.25 million to host the race for five years from 2010. At the time, the Gift was experiencing financial difficulties. The offer was withdrawn later in July. The Victorian state government ruled out providing monetary assistance.
In 2010, the Gift track was found to be around three metres too long, with times much slower than expected during the heats.
In 2019, the Gift was having trouble attracting sponsors, which resulted in a reduction in prize money. In 2018, the prize pool for the men's and women's Gift had been A$40,000 each race, but that was reduced by A$15,000 in 2019. The Northern Grampians Shire Council offered assistance. It has been estimated that the Gift contributes A$5 million to the local economy.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was initially postponed, and the Stawell Athletic Club considered options to run the event later in the year. In May the 2020 race was cancelled, for the first time since World War II.
Powercor Australia became the naming rights sponsor for five years, starting in 2021.
The 2021 Gift, branded as the "Powercor Stawell Gift", and the 139th running of the event, was held as usual during the Easter long weekend. It was won by Edward Ware of Victoria, and the women's event was won by Hayley Orman from South Australia.
Format
On Easter Saturday the heats are conducted, with the winner of each heat going through to the semi-finals along with the next best fastest times. On Easter Monday, the six semi-finals are run approximately two hours before the final, with only semi-final winners advancing to the final. Six semi-finals were first run in 1988, before which there were only five semi-finals.
The Gift is run on a 120 m grass track in front of the 100-year-old Stawell Grandstand, and the athletes run in lanes that are separated by lane ropes rather than painted lines.
The idea of the handicap system is that all runners should, 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 sprint events. Currently the maximum handicap is 10 metres, although this is occasionally increased to 11.
Each metre in handicap denotes approximately a tenth of a second in time. Race winners are often those that are able to "beat the handicapper", in that they need to perform well enough to qualify for the event and the finals, but below what they are truly capable of, so that they receive a handicap that gives them the best chance of a victory. The handicapping system often ends up pitting local runners against international professionals.
Gambling is allowed in the venue, and there is an extensive bookmaker's compound.
While the Stawell Gift is the feature race, the meeting also includes many other races, with more than sixty events taking place over the three-day meeting. The Women's Gift has run since 1989. In 2015, the Women's Gift had equal prizemoney with the men's for the first time.
Records
Winners – Men's Stawell Gift
The list of winners of the Stawell Gift:
YearWinning RunnerCity/TownCounty/State/TerritoryNationHandicap(yd or m)Time/s 1878 Condah Victoria Australia 3 yards 12.75 1879 Creswick Victoria Australia 6.5 13 1880 Brighton Victoria Australia 7.5 12.7 1881 Avoca Victoria Australia 9 12 1882 Sale Victoria Australia 11 12.75 1883 Dimboola Victoria Australia 14 12.5 1884 Melbourne Victoria Australia 7.5 12 1885 Bowman's Forest Victoria Australia 10 12.25 1886 England 7 11.75 1887 Balmoral Victoria Australia 12 11.75 1888 Fitzroy Victoria Australia 10.5 11.75 1889 U.S.A 9 12 1890 Eaglehawk Victoria Australia 11 11.875 1891 Maryborough Victoria Australia 13 11.75 1892 Port Melbourne Victoria Australia 12 12 1893 Mudgee New South Wales Australia 12.5 11.5 1894 Gippsland Victoria Australia 11 11.75 1895 Dunolly Victoria Australia 5 12.25 1896 Adelaide South Australia Australia 11.5 12.5 1897 North Melbourne Victoria Australia 12 12.2 1898 Euroa Victoria Australia 14 11.8 1899 Rosebery South Australia Australia 14.5 11.8 1900 Manzies Western Australia Australia 10 12 1901 Woodend Victoria Australia 14 12 1902 Malvern Victoria Australia 11.5 12.2 1903 Adelaide South Australia Australia 12 12.0 1904 East Melbourne Victoria Australia 12 12.2 1905 Mount Gambier South Australia Australia 10.5 12 1906 Abbotsford Victoria Australia 10 12.2 1907 Numurkah Victoria Australia 12.5 12.4 1908 Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jack King, who trained his brother, Chris King (1908), Clarrie Hearn (1929), Frank Bradley (1937), and Jack Hayes (1954): Stawell Gift To Hayes, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, (Tuesday, 20 April 1954), p.3. Rutherglen Victoria Australia 12 11.8 1909 Burnie TasmaniaThe Stawell Gift: Burnie Man's Fine Win, North Western Advocate & the Emu Bay Times, (17 April 1909), p.3. Australia 11.5 11.8 1910 Dirranbandi Queensland Australia 13 11.6 1911 Stawell Victoria Australia 13 11.4 1912 Kew Victoria Australia 11.5 12.2 1913 Ernest George North Melbourne Victoria Australia 12.5 12.2 1914 Maldon Victoria Australia 12 11.8 1915 Elphinstone Victoria Australia 10 11.4 1916 South Melbourne Victoria Australia 13.25 12 1917 Moonee Ponds Victoria Australia 11.75 12.2 1918 Melbourne Victoria Australia 14 12.6 1919 Abbotsford Victoria Australia 10.5 12.2 1920 Balliang Victoria Australia 7 12.4 1921 Parkville Victoria Australia 10.25 12.4 1922 Cobden Victoria Australia 10.5 11.7 1923 Stawell Victoria Australia 9 12 1924 Stawell Victoria Australia 8.5 12.1 1925 Carthcart Victoria Australia 5 12.15625 1926 Coburg Victoria Australia 9.5 12 4/16 1927 Bundaberg Queensland Australia 10 12.0625 1928 Jeparit Victoria Australia 8 11.9375 1929