The Victorian Athletic League organises professional footrunning events ranging from 70 to 3200 metres. The most famous of these events is the Stawell Gift which has been run since 1878 and hosts the richest footrace in Australia. Many other gifts are held around Victoria in country and metro locations including Ballarat, Bendigo, Wangaratta, Maryborough, Keilor, Yarrawonga, Ringwood, Rye and Olympic Park. Races are run under a handicap system which makes races competitive. Each race has a different handicap limit. Generally, the greater the sum of the prize money for a race, the less handicap is available, limiting the class of runners that can win. Runners are awarded prize money when making finals and bookmaking occurs at major meets.
History of professional running The oldest professional carnival in Victoria is the Maryborough Gift which celebrated its 162nd anniversary on New years Day 2025.
Present day professional footrunning
Australia's best known footrace is the Stawell Gift, held at Easter since 1878. The other major Victorian carnivals that has been running for more than 100 years are the Maryborough and Wangaratta Carnivals. The Burnie Gift in Tasmania has been running since 1885.
The Wangaratta Gift has been running for 100 plus years since 1919 and like the Stawell Gift has only ever had a three year break for World War Two from 1942 to 1944, while the Maryborough Gift is the only carnival in Victoria to have actually run continuously since 1891.
The status as the richest carnival was challenged for a time in NSW with the running of the Botany Bay Gift Carnival which, in the 1990s. boasts total prize money of $120,000 and $70,000 for its main race with a $50,000 first prize. The excellent event, however, faded from the scene when sponsorship became difficult to maintain.
The Stawell Carnival has a total prize money pool of $90,000. The main race, the Stawell Gift, is over 120m and the winner receives $40,000.
There are many other carnivals and events conducted under handicap foot-running conditions throughout the nation each year.
Apart from Stawell, Wangaratta and Burnie, some of the more famous long-running carnivals are the Bay Sheffield Carnival in South Australia, Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria, the Christmas Carnivals in North Western Tasmania, and an annual Gift on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Temora and Macksville Carnivals in New South Wales. Since the late 1980s athletics and the Olympic Games have been 'open', meaning that the so-called amateurs and professionals can all compete together for prize money without being penalised or discriminated against.
History of the Victorian Athletic League
The Victorian Athletic League was established in 1895. Professional running in Australia began in the gold-mining days and boomed in areas where miners were prospecting and digging for gold. The miners raced against each other for the gift of a gold nugget offered by the local publican or mine owner. The miners raced over various distances but the main race was run over the Sheffield distance of 130 yards.
In the 1860s big money began to creep into the sport which attracted a wealth of athletic talent. Competitions took on a carnival atmosphere and crowds flocked to see local champions. In April 1878, nearly two thousand people witnessed the running of the first Stawell Easter Gift which was won by 24-year-old farmer W.J.Millard. The sport of professional running continued to grow. Big prize money and heavy betting attracted talented athletes as well as a range of shady characters.
By the early 1890s, the sport of professional running was in crisis. Athletes running under false names, hiding past performance, corrupt officials and other controversies led the need to establish a controlling body for professional running in Victoria. The Victorian Athletic League was formed on 15 April 1895 when RV Lewis of Benalla was elected president and Hastings Bell of Stawell was appointed secretary. Originally the League was administered from Stawell and formulated rules and regulations for country towns that conducted sports carnivals. It also acted as arbitrator in any disputes arising at those carnivals.
In 1902 a regular office was established in Melbourne and the Victorian Athletic League began to promote the sport of professional running. Carnivals were held in Melbourne and major Victorian towns and became extremely popular with the sporting public. 1917, a dispute over prize money led to a breakaway group, the Victorian Athletic Association, being formed and conducting event in opposition to the Victorian Athletic League. In 1921, through the mediation of the Stawell Athletic Club, the Victorian Athletic League and the Victorian Athletic Association were merged. ES Herring of Maryborough was elected president and Joe Bull appointed as secretary. The Victorian Athletic League established an office in Brunswick and held mid week sports meetings were held at White City in Tottenham, at the Exhibition Grounds and at the Monodrome. During the 1920s and 1930s, popularity of professional running grew tremendously and the VAL staged World Sprint Championships.
At the outbreak of World War II, many Victorian Athletic League clubs abandoned their meetings. However, the federal cabinet granted permission for the Victorian Athletic League to conduct footrunning at Maribyrnong for the benefit of athletes on leave from the armed forces and men employed in essential services. After World War II the Victorian Athletic League gained strength and had nearly fifteen hundred registered runners, three hundred trainers and was conducted sports carnivals at seventy centres across Victoria from mid November to early June.
By the early 1960s, interest in professional running had waned. The number of registered runners had declined and only twenty-eight carnivals were held across Victoria. In an effort to revive the sport, the Victorian Athletic League invited champion international athletes such as Bob Hayes, Alan Simpson and Robbie Hutchison to compete in Australia. In 1969, the St Kilda club staged the richest footrace in the world with a first prize of $2,000. In 1977, the Victorian Athletic League undertook substantial administrative changes becoming an incorporated company, establishing a computerised record of handicaps and results, and commissioning the use of an electronic race finish recording machine. After years of segregation between amateur and professional athletics, in 1986 saw the dawning of open athletics when Stawell Gift winners Chris Perry and John Dinan competed for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
In recent years, the Victorian Athletic League has extended its athletic format beyond club carnivals. The League moved into conducting special events such as the famous Dandy Dollar Dash at VFL/AFL football matches, the Moomba Mile run down Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD, 400 metres series' during international cricket matches at the MCG and sprint events during horse races at Moonee Valley. In 2001, the Victorian Athletic League moved offices to be co-located with Athletics Victoria at Olympic Park in Melbourne. The League began to form a strong alliance with Athletics Victoria through formal affiliation, sharing resources and establishing a dual-registration process.
Matthew McDonough has been President of the Victorian Athletic League since 2021 and there is prize money offered for each race from $300 to $60,000 and a sash for every winner. The VAL provides a wide range of race categories and distances.
Famous athletes The following athletes are a small selection of well known and well performed athletes that have run in Australian Professional races under the (VAL, SAAL, QAL, NSWAL, TAL).
Jack Donaldson Arthur Postle Cyril Mears Eddie Tolan USA Tom Miles Lynch Cooper Austin Robertson Sr. Frank Banner Eric Cumming Lance Mann Barney Ewell USA Herb McKenley: USA Bob Hayes USA Harry Downes Norman Yemm Robert De Castella Jana Rawlinson Tamsyn Lewis Bree Rizzo: Stawell Gift, Rye Gift, Keilor Gift, Maryborough Gift Nova Peris-Kneebone Melinda Gainsford-Taylor Madeleine Pape (Australian Olympian) Bola Lawal (Nigerian Olympian) George McNeill (Scotland) Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa (Madagascar) Rick Dunbar, 1963 Powderhall Gift Cathy Freeman: 1995 Stawell Gift, Stonnington Gift Linford Christie: 1999 Stawell Gift Josh Ross: 2003 Stawell Gift, Albury Gift, Parkdale Gift, Ballarat Gift Sally Pearson: 2007 Stawell Gift Michael Frater: 2012 Stawell Gift Asafa Powell: 2013 Stawell Gift Kim Collins: 2011, 2012 Stawell Gift Gout Gout: 2025 Stawell Gift Lachlan Kennedy: 2025 Stawell Gift
Ballarat Gift
The Ballarat Gift has a strong history dating back to 1921 and was initially run by the Ballarat Athletic Association and promoted as "the greatest sports carnival in Australia" featuring athletics, cycling and tug of war events. The 1921 Ballarat Christmas Gift had a purse of £155, which was the richest stake in Australia and was held at the City Oval.
In 1923 and 1924, there was no professional athletic events, only amateur races, with the main event being the 100 yard amateur handicap.
Since 1949 it has been held at the City Oval, Sebastopol Oval and Northern Oval where VFL team the North Ballarat Roosters play. In 1949 the gift was won by Ted Marantelli.
There was a Wendouree Gift which appears to of commenced in the early 1950's.
During much of the 1970s and 1980s the only Gift conducted in Ballarat was the Sebastopol Gift. After the demise of the Sebastopol Gift in 1988, the Ballarat Gift returned to the VAL calendar in 1989 at the City Oval.
After traditionally being held in February since inception, in 2010 the Ballarat Gift was moved to the weekend after the Stawell Gift (April). With the assistance of the Goldfields Council, the Gift was worth a record $40,000. With all six Stawell Gift finalists entered, the 2010 Ballarat Gift final featured four of them including Stawell Gift winner Tom Burbidge. The Gift was won by 44-year-old Ballarat based, self trained athlete, Peter O'Dwyer. It was O'Dwyer's second Ballarat Gift after winning the race in 1996.
Past winners (since it was resurrected in 1989)
Ballarat Gift Winners Year Winner City (from) Handicap Time (secs) 1921L McArthur 11&9/10 1922A C Pasco 13.00y13.00 1923W A Ward 10.009.4/5 (amateur)1924F E Sparks 10.509.4/5 (amateur)1925-27 In recess 1928Frank Spurrell Glenferrie 8.5012&3/5 1929-48 In recess 1949E "Ted" P Marantelli 7.2512.21950-1988 In recess? 1989Peter Bennetto 1990Peter Bennetto 1991Chris Russell 1992Mark Ladbrook 1993Tony Birrell 1994Andrew Paull 1995Vince Cavallo Wangaratta 12.2 1996Peter O'Dwyer 1997Shaun White 1998Robert BallardAlbury 1999Chris Pattison 2000Darren Paull 2001John Cara 2002Brett Blanco 2003Scott Beaven 2004Victor Oyanedal 2005Warwick Vale 2006Nathan Dixon 2007Nick Sampieri 9.7512.38 2008Bola Lawal Nigeria 2.0012.50 2009Rod Matthews 10.5012.49 2010Peter O'Dwyer 10.2512.44 2011Andrew McCabeLongreach 2012David Tinney Geelong 8.5012.28 2013Glenn Ross 10.7512.41 2014Nathan Riali Greensborough 5.7512.592015Craig Mair 12.0012.362016Noddy Angelakos 11.5012.62 2017Jasper Nettlefold 7.7512.65 2018Luke Mitchell 11.0012.412019Bikramjeet Singh 11.0012.50 2020Michael Hanna Sydney 2021 2022Duncan Cameron 2023Chad Perris Canberra 2024Cooper Sherman Ballarat 2025Jack HaleClaremont2.0012.28 2026Josh Lotsu 12.197 Year Winner City (from) Handicap Time (secs)
Bendigo The Bendigo Gift In late 1922, the Bendigo Easter Carnival committee decided to host a professional Sheffield Handicap running race over 130 yards for the 1923 Bendigo Easter Gift, with an initial prize of £200 to be held at the Bendigo Agricultural Showgrounds as part of the Bendigo Easter Carnival, which included athletics, cycling, wood chopping and trotting.
In 1926 the Bendigo Gift prize money was £275.