History
The Legacy of the Ballarat Gift
“A proud tradition, a modern vision.”
The Ballarat Gift is one of the longest-running and most prestigious professional athletic carnivals in Australia. Since 1949, it has attracted thousands of runners to Ballarat’s famed Llanberris Reserve, building a legacy of athletic excellence, sportsmanship, and community celebration.
Pro running in Australia started on the Goldfields in the 1850’s, with wagering and handicapping making it unique, and it trans formalised with events like the Stawell Gift in 1878.
Only behind the Stawell Gift in size and prize money, the Ballarat Gift is a cornerstone of the Victorian Athletic League and a highlight of the summer running season.
Over the decades, it has welcomed champions and grassroots competitors alike. The carnival is a truly inclusive event, with categories for men, women, masters, juniors, and elite runners. It has grown to become a key event for those seeking a highly competitive race experience in a vibrant, supportive setting.
More than just a race, the Ballarat Gift showcases the spirit of the city itself—welcoming, competitive, and full of energy. Athletes and families travel from across Melbourne, regional Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, making it one of the most anticipated annual events on the calendar.
Today, the Ballarat Athletic Club continues to build on this legacy, with a focus on:
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Gender equity in prize money
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Community inclusion across all age groups and abilities
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Professional event management and digital innovation
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Youth development and inspiration for the next generation of athletes
As we move forward, we remain committed to celebrating the past while delivering a bold and modern vision for the future of professional running in Ballarat.
A History of the Ballarat Gift
The early settlers arrived in Australia with full knowledge of pedestrianism, a popular sport in England. Although no records were kept of the sport in the early days, it is known that the Englishmen found the heat excessive for long distance running. Sprint races seemed the order in those days. For small side stakes, the English Trooper did not think he could be beaten by a convict or Aboriginal over short distances.
Professional foot racing in Australia is often said to have begun in the gold mining days. It did indeed boom with the findings of gold, and in areas where prospecting and diggings went on. The miners raced against each other on a handicap basis for the gift of a gold nugget offered by the local publican or the mine owner. The miners wagered their precious gold dust on the outcome of a race. It was in this manner the present day “Gift” races originated. The miners raced over various distances, but the main race was... and still is... the one over the Sheffield distance of 130 yards. Back in England, the Sheffield Handicap in Yorkshire was run over this distance, and the winner was presented with a purse of gold. With metrication, the distance has now become the slightly longer 120 metres. The distance is regarded as the true test for professional sprinters... (1)
“Competitors were bound by the rules and regulations of the Ballarat Athletic League...” (2)
“In the gold mining days of the nineteenth century, each gold mining town had its own athletic club, and each club had its own rules and regulations. Townspeople supported their local champions so vehemently that club officials found it difficult to award races to runners from other towns. Even in the case of a clear victory by a visiting runner, the result would often be declared a dead heat.
The formation of the Stawell Athletic Club, with its honourable members all dedicated in their task to promote professional athletics, set a standard of ethics hitherto unknown at mining centres. Reports from runners of slipshod rules that applied all around Victoria prompted the Stawell Athletic Club to convene a meeting of all clubs promoting professional running in Victoria with the object of forming a controlling body. At this meeting, held in 15 April, 1895, the Victorian Athletic League was formed...” (3)
And so went some of the early history of professional athletics in Victoria.
Records show that an athletics carnival, featuring a Ballarat Gift, was staged at the City Oval on Tuesday, December 27, 1949. The winner of the Gift over 130 yards was E.P. (Ted) Marantelli from 7.25 yards in 12.2 seconds. Our source reveals that at the same carnival was assembled the greatest ever field of eight cyclists to race in country Victoria.
Other records show that there were several Wendouree Gift meetings conducted by the Wendouree Athletic Club in the 1950’s until the first Sebastopol Gift meeting was held on Saturday, March 19, 1960. Prize money for the 1960 meeting totalled $334.00 and by 1979 this had increased to $2,300.00.
In 1988 there was no professional foot running carnival held in Ballarat. The break ended 30 years of tradition by the Sebastopol Sporting Club who had previously conducted the Sebastopol Gift Carnival at the Marty Busch Oval in the suburb of Sebastopol.
The carnival had struggled for a number of years - not for want of athletes, but rather to fill a void with organizers, officials and sponsors. As a result of this and later in 1988 the Central Highlands Region Sports Assembly drew attention to the plight of the carnival and after much discussion at its meetings, embarked on a major exercise to resurrect the meeting to the professional athletics calendar. The Central Highlands Region Sports Assembly invested considerable time and effort into the development and formation of a new organizing club which chose Ballarat’s City Oval as the venue for the new look Gift carnival, the first of which was staged in 1989.
In recent years during the 1990’s the club has almost always endeavoured to sustain the high standard of the carnival, within what has usually been a difficult budgetary circumstance. Increasing costs for preparation and use of the City Oval influenced the club to establish links with the North Ballarat Sports Club at the Northern Oval - home to the Ballarat Gift from 1993-2008 and 2010-2013. After a 12 year association with Tattersall’s ended in 2007, prizemoney and competitor numbers declined.
In 2010, a bold plan by the Club and the City of Ballarat reinvigorated the carnival, with a two-day format held after the Stawell Gift for the first time. $40 000 prizemoney for the Ballarat Gift resulted in record interstate entries, increased media coverage, and ultimately a re-match of all six Stawell Gift finalists in Ballarat – the first time this has occurred.
While The North Ballarat Sports Club remains a major sponsor, the gift has seen several different homes over the past 10 years including the Historical Eastern Oval (2009, 2014-17), Wendouree Oval (2018) and finally settling back at the Ballarat City Oval (2019-).
Over the past few years Ballarat Athletic Club has made a commitment to equalisation in prize money for Women and Men’s races and thus the Ballarat Women’s Gift has become a highly coveted race on the VAL calendar. In addition more events focusing on women’s, youth and distance athletes have been included to improve the diversity of the program.
In 2011 the Ballarat Gift joined forces with the Ballarat and District Little Athletics to create the Dash for Sash (Formally Dash for Cash) a junior athletic handicap carnival held during the Gift weekend.
Our search for information on either athletics or professional athletics in Ballarat has also revealed that amateur athletics in Ballarat was firmly established in the district in 1891 when the Ballarat Harriers became active, while a local athletics centre was established in 1895, the same year that the Victorian Athletic League was formed by the professional clubs, most notably the Stawell Athletic Club.
A painting which now hangs in the social room of the Ballarat Football League Headquarters, on the City Oval, depicts the scene at the oval on the opening day in 1899. It is obvious that a rather large scale carnival was held to mark the occasion and in the foreground is the lane ropes for the sprint track.
As previously indicated, the Ballarat region has had a long, albeit chequered involvement in the sport of pedestrianism as it’s traditionally known. The involvement, has continued to endure despite difficulties, perhaps through a preparedness of organisers to continually change focus as circumstances changed.
In 2020 the COVID Pandemic arrived and has continued to cause major disruptions to the lives of organisers and athletes alike. The 2021 Ballarat Gift was posponed at the last minute and fortunately was able to be rescheduled. In 2022 a small band of committed organisers worked hard to establish a safe and healthy Ballarat Gift.
By supporting this years important community event you will be helping to ensure that the Ballarat Gift Meeting is still a part of the tradition in the Ballarat and district region for perhaps another 100 years.
(1) P8, Chapter 2, (2) P15, Chapter 3, (3) P31, Chapter 4
Professional Athletics in Australia by Percy Mason.
Past Mens Ballarat Gift Finals Results
Past Womens Ballarat Gift Finals Results
Previous Winners From The Ballarat Gift Carnival
Previous Mens Winners Testimonials
