Chasing kangaroos and tricking the bookies: 148 years of the Stawell Gift

The Stawell Gift attracts runners from across Australia and the world every Easter, and the famous foot race has a history full of gold rush beginnings, big prize money pots, twins tricking bookmakers and even an Olympian charging down the field from last place.

Born in the gold rush: First run in 1878, the race began as part of Stawell’s Easter festivities, with seven races and multiple heats organised by the Stawell Athletics Club.

• It remains one of the few professional races in the world still run on grass.

Where slow starters can win: The Gift uses a handicap system, meaning runners are “marked” between zero and more than 10 metres based on their form, with the aim of bringing the field across the finish line together.

• The race was cancelled for four years during World War II and in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Chasing the gold: Prize money has always been a major drawcard. In the 1870s the winner took home £24 - worth more than $7,000 today - and by 1937 the purse had grown to £1,500, roughly equivalent to $175,000 in today’s money. 

• Heats are held across Easter Saturday and Sunday, with semi finals and finals on Easter Monday. Race distances range from 70 metres to 3.2 kilometres - but it’s the 120-metre Gift that remains the race everyone wants to win.

• This weekend, the men’s and women’s winners of the 120-metre Gift each take home $40,000.

The event is also big business for the region, with the Easter weekend meet estimated to bring more than $5 million into the local economy each year.

Kangaroos and meat pies: Over the years, the Gift has produced its share of wild stories. The first winner, William J. Millard, was said to train by chasing kangaroos, and only won after the leading runner fell two yards from the finish line.

• Identical twin brothers Scott and Paul Antonich famously duped the Gift’s bookies in the 1980s.  

• After coming back from an injury at the previous year’s semi-final, runner Scott ran the fastest heat time at the 1988 Gift, which saw the bookmakers shorten his odds of winning the final.  

• Scott, who went on to win the race, was preparing in the club rooms at Central Park, while his brother Paul, wearing Scott’s tracksuit, walked out and bought himself a pie and a can of Coke and circled around the betting ring. 

• He was spotted by the bookmakers and the odds for his brother winning the race blew out. 

A full hall of fame: Olympian Cathy Freeman is among many famous names tied to the Gift - winning the women’s 400m from scratch in 1995, before returning in 1996 and, despite interference and miserable conditions, chasing down the field to win again.

Header image: Stawell Gift