Burnie Gift

E.R. Terry of Pyengana (11 yds), wins the 1925 Burnie Gift in 13 secs from A.M. Stuart (Hobart), M. Campbell (Devonport), and G.F. Triffett (Queenstown)[1]

The Burnie Gift is a professional footrace held in Burnie, Tasmania, traditionally on New Year's Day.[2]

First run in 1885, the race is conducted by the Tasmanian Athletic League in conjunction with the Burnie Athletic Club. The race is held on a grass track at West Park Oval in Burnie. A sprint event, the Burnie Gift is conducted over the traditional 'Gift' distance of 120 metres. Prior to 1973 the distance was 130 yards.

Athletes are allocated handicaps with a range from scratch (running the full 120 metres) to the current limit of 12.00 metres. An athlete off 12.00m would run 108 metres. Most athletes (and winners) run from a handicap between 5.0m and 10.0m, thereby covering anywhere from 115m to 110m. Athletes are separated by lane ropes as opposed to painted lanes on synthetic tracks. The finish line is a finishing gate that each athlete must run through to record a time.

In recent years the prize pool for the race has been worth $15,000, with a first prize of $10,000.

The Burnie Carnival is the premier running carnival in Tasmania and is considered one of the 'big three' professional Gifts in Australia along with Victoria's Stawell Gift and the Bay Sheffield in South Australia. Along with the feature event, the Burnie carnival includes races over 90m, 400m and 1600m and includes a Women's Burnie Gift. The Burnie carnival is one of three Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals conducted over a seven-day period from 26 December to January 1. The other carnivals are held at Latrobe and Devonport.

Dean Capobianco (1991) was the first athlete to win the race off scratch (running the full 120 metres). Joshua Ross (2004 and 2007) is the only man to have won the Gift twice off the scratch mark. Capobianco and Ross are the only national 100m champions to have won the Gift.

WINNERS (since 1970):

References

  1. ↑ Burnie Sports, The Mercury, (Friday 2 January 1925), p.8. Sports in the Country, ‘’The Argus’’, (Friday, 2 January 1925), p.2.
  2. ↑ "Burnie Gift to Watkins" - The Independent Weekly
  3. ↑ Lauren Waldhuter (2 January 2016). "Tasmanians take out Burnie Gift and Women's Wheel against star-studded line-ups". ABC News.

External links

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