Racers sprint for the Birdsville Gift

From our Birdsville correspondent
THE inaugural Birdsville Gift race was run last Saturday with pros and amateurs competing neck-and-neck for posterity and some fantastic prizemoney.

Six professional runners travelled to Birdsville from Brisbane, along with four officials from the Queensland Athletic League (QAL).

Ken Telfer, 39, of Canberra, won three races including the 70m race, the 120m Plate and the major 120m Gift.

It was Ken’s second Gift win in nine years of professional running.

"To come somewhere so unique and win the first ever Gift race, well, words can’t describe it; I’m stoked."

Steve Minns, secretary of the QAL and winner of the 300m and 1600m races, said the quality of the oval was "like any typical suburban oval in any major city".

The grassed oval and running track were constructed by the Diamantina Shire Council with the generous support from the Pratt Foundation through the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal.

Local athletes Scott Owens - formerly of Longreach and now based in Charleville as an RFDS pilot - and Max Rayment, a local ringer with a nearby property, gave the professionals a run for their money with Scott gaining a close fourth in the 120m Gift and 70m finals.

Max finished sixth in the 120m Plate final and a well-earned fifth in the 1600m.

Organisers hope that as the event develops, more professional and local athletes will be attracted to Birdsville for the run.

Prizemoney totalled $11,250, with $5,000 set aside for the feature 120m Gift race. The event was run in conjunction with the Diamantina Shire Council and the Queensland Athletics League, with OBE Beef and the Birdsville Hotel as the major sponsors.