THEY have both been running since they could walk, and for local athletes Andrea Thompson, 17, and Stephanie Pollard, 20, the Queanbeyan Gift is an annual event that they are all too happy to tackle.
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“I’ve been doing athletics since I was probably three or four, my brothers used to do Little Athletics and I used to go along and join in where I could,” Pollard said.
“I started in the toddler races before under sixes, so pretty much my whole life.”
Thompson also started out in Queanbeyan’s Little Athletics program, and is a keen long-jumper as well as a sprinter. The 17 year old is looking forward to improving on her respectable dash from last year, again being pitted against the likes of event ambassadors Mel Breen and Lauren Wells.
“ I ended up fifth last year,” she said.
“For a town like Queanbeyan, getting to see local people compete against Mel Breen is pretty cool.”
While the girls are Queanbeyan’s sole entrants in the main event, the Gift attracts a large annual crowd and has twice been named the Australian Athletic Confederation’s Event of the Year in both 2012 and 2014. While in 2013, the Queanbeyan City Council’s Tracey Lamont was named Administrator of the Year for her efforts in organising and delivering the Queanbeyan Gift to the public.
Pollard, who is also president of Queanbeyan Athletics, believes that the gender equality and the sheer size of the prize money helps in causing the event to remain a resounding success year in and year out.
“I think something that a lot of people appreciate is that the women and the men have the same prize money amount,” Pollard said.
“Not many other Gifts in Australia have that so I think that’s a big drawcard, and there is quite a lot of prize money, but also on the Sunday the family fun day is held so it’s a great atmosphere for everybody. Not only for the people running but also their family, who come along to watch.”
But it is also Queanbeyan’s roaring community spirit that adds to the atmosphere of the event, drawing in both locals and visitors, as they spend a day out in the sun connecting with their families through sport and physical activity.
“I probably love the atmosphere, it’s a really fun day,” Pollard said.
“I appreciate that it’s handicapped so almost anybody has a good chance of winning but also, its just fun to have all of your family and your friends around especially since we’re local. So people can come and watch us compete, when they normally can’t.”
“I love the fact that all my family comes down,” Thompson added.
A gift-load of entertainment
A JAM-PACKED weekend full of family, fun, and fast friends awaits the city of Queanbeyan. Returning for the 15th installment of the modern event, the annual Queanbeyan Gift promises to deliver a festive atmosphere as some of the nation’s quickest runners converge upon the city with the $18000 prize money in their sights.
While the finals for the main races will be fought out on Sunday afternoon, the real festivities will be kicked off on Friday evening at Hotel Queanbeyan, where the Gift Calcutta will officially open the weekend. The hotel licensee and event organiser Matthew Griffin said that while the hotel had not hosted a calcutta of this nature before, the premises was well versed in the process of the calcutta with Queanbeyan Hotel holding the largest Melbourne Cup Calcutta in the country, with prize money reaching the $70,000 mark.
“We don’t expect the Queanbeyan Gift Calcutta to be that big but we do expect it to build from here,” he said.
“You basically buy a raffle ticket, then a name will be drawn out allowing the punter to win a share in a runner, or a heat of runners, and then we sell the other half share off in an auction.
“If one of your runners wins the Queanbeyan Gift, you win a bit of cash too.”
The calcutta will be followed up by a number of sprint heats throughout Saturday, ranging from the under sixes all the way up to the open men and women. This precedes the Street Party that will take over the lifestyle precinct on Crawford Street, delivering a huge range of attractions for attendees to indulge in.
“The Street Party was a new addition to the program last year and was a lot of fun, with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree, Santa, lots of food and entertainment,” Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall said.
“This year will be the same. As well as the athletes, the Canberra Raiders will be joining us and popular music group Night Train will bring extra atmosphere.”
The Canberra Raiders will be bringing along mascot Victor the Viking, as well as their jumping castle the Raiders Viking Ship from 6pm. The Roving Birds of Paradise, The Naked Runners, Circaholics and Base Zero Rockclimbing will all be joining the Raiders and Night Train to provide locals with a gift-load of entertainment.
After the excitement of Saturday night, the final day of the Queanbeyan Gift will reward competitors for the efforts with the main final races being held in the later afternoon. While families, their children and the greater community will be rewarded with the Family Fun Day which boasts a large range of activities and attractions for all to enjoy. This includes Majura the Magician, Kulture Break dance group, a Celtic dance and pipe band, as well as a bungee trampoline, a giant chess and checkers set and a number of Warehouse Circus performances and workshops.
“I hope you enjoy this weekend of fun and fame in Queanbeyan as we watch world-class athletes compete on our own beautiful running tack at Queanbeyan Park,” Mayor Overall said.
The main Queanbeyan Gift sprint finals will be held on Sunday November 22, with the men’s race beginning at 3.15pm and the women’s following at 3.30pm.