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 prizemoney for a race, the less handicap is available, limiting the class of runners that can win. Runners are awarded prizemoney when making finals and bookmaking occurs at major meets.
Read more about Victorian Athletic League: History of Professional Running, Present Day Professional Footrunning, History of The Victorian Athletic League, Athletes That Have Run in Professional Footrunning Events, Rye Gift, Ringwood, Wangaratta, Ballarat, Bendigo, Stawell Gift, Stawell Gift Winners 1990-2010
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—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
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