General News
10 April, 2026
High fitness
BARRY'S CORNER: It comes as no surprise to go to the Stawell Gift Carnival and be surrounded by ultra-fit and particularly fast young people.
To have such a concentration and gathering of fit and enthusiastic people is rather awe inspiring.
They train in the various districts around the nation and gather at Stawell every year to compete human against human.
There are no props like hurdles, javelins and the high jump. Just a start gun and well-made running shoes.
Some will say Stawell is lucky to have The Gift but it has an old history and continuance link with the town.
There is no luck involved: it is all hard work.
The Gift has a Board that works over the year with continuous meeting and searching for new events to include in the program.
Most athletes have heard of The Gift through their own networks and are generally anxious to qualify in their chosen event.
The three-day event is highly planned and suits the athletes who expect a high standard of competition and organisation of a strong program.
Athletic enthusiasts come from many kilometres away to watch the races and cheer on their favoured competitor.
So, the town and district benefits from the thousands of visitors who flock to the district for a week or so.
To reach the level of fitness required most athletes take one or two more years to acquire the strength for competition.
Because this is purely a human endeavor it brings out the best in competition.
Many athletes use The Gift as a jump off point to other races.
A good result at The Gift event can give leverage to competitors at other meetings.
One of the differences in Stawell is the handicap system that the competitors have to contend with and the results can be interesting and contentious.
Disputes have followed The Gift for decades but generally the stewards are aware of the tricks that runners can get up to.
To compete at this level runners need to build on their muscles and legs and body to prepare it for the hard knocks.
It involves much running and jogging, stop watches and early mornings and other competitions if they are available, if any suit the program of a particular athlete.
No everyone can be a high energy athlete but these people set the standard for the community.