A Gift for Docklands!

Modelled on Victoria’s iconic Stawell Gift foot race event, Docklands will soon host a Gift of its own at Ron Barrassi Snr Park.

Delivered in partnership with the Victorian Athletics League, Docklands Primary School and the Docklands Sports Club, the inaugural Docklands Gift will take place on Saturday, March 20 with a range of different running events and activities for the local community to enjoy.

With sponsorship from NewQuay developer MAB Corporation and support from the Docklands Chamber of Commerce (DCC), organiser Colin McEvoy said that the community event was all about helping restore some energy into Docklands.

“The whole idea of the Gift itself is to provide a community event,” he said. “One of the things that’s probably lacking in Docklands is a bit of soul. What we’re trying to achieve is to have a community event which just happens to be an athletics event.”

As reported in the November 2020 edition of Docklands News, the event was the culmination of a Committee for Melbourne focus group aimed at establishing a new community event for Docklands.

Kicking off at 9am with junior events for children from the primary school, Mr McEvoy said that the main event from 11am onwards would feature a professional running event – a handicap race open to everyone.

“The professional side of this sport is different to what we normally call the amateur athletics side of things, which have been going on for close to 100 years or more,” he said.

“All the athletes run for money and they’re all handicapped. So, it’s open to all different abilities and sexes and such, so males will run against females in many of the events.”

“In saying that though, there are many events which are both male and female separate races. The main event will be either 100 or 120 metres. We’re still yet to decide whether we can actually fit 120 metres onto the park.”

More information about running events and other activities taking place on the day will be published in the March edition of Docklands News •

For more information: facebook.com/docklandsgift