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A good run by Michael Nitschke - 3rd in the 800 at the Stawel Gift! (Michael is in the green top)

Stawell Gift

Annual Australian handicap running race

The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. 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. As of 2016^[update] the carnival encompasses events for both men and women of all ages and abilities, across distances from 70 to 3,200 metres (230 to 10,500 feet).^[1]

The final of the iconic main race is run on grass over 120 m (390 ft) up a slight gradient. Competitors are handicapped according to their form, with each competitor "marked" by between 0 m and 10 m or more to theoretically reach the finish line at the same time.^[2] 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 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia the race was postponed, but in May the race was cancelled, 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.

1. ^ History at official website, 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2020
2. ^ "Stawell Gift: Top Ten Trivia". Official Website. Stawell Gift 2010. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.

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