Celebrating 40 Years since my 1985 Stawell Gift victory

Date: 28th February 2025

By Paul Young

Four decades ago, Paul Young sprinted into the history books, claiming victory in the 1985 Stawell Gift. Today, he is a respected coach and handicapper in South Australia, shaping the next generation of professional runners. A man of many talents, Paul is also a part-time comedian and a self-proclaimed stats guru, with an incredible ability to recall every winner in the event’s 147-year history. Here he describes the journey that led to his victory, from the meticulous research and planning he undertook with the help of renowned coach Ferg Speakman, and the atmosphere at his first Stawell Gift when George McNeill took the honours.

From football to professional running

In September 1980 I contacted the Victorian Athletic League after deciding I wanted to get faster and fitter for football. I had just played in the VFA 2nd Division reserves grand final for Brunswick and was eager to press for the seniors. 

The VAL kindly sent me out some details about pro running squads, coaches, and registration details. 

I rang two trainers before ringing Ian Hagger who was the Essendon Professional Athletic Club’s contact person. Ian was a very accomplished athlete; he had won the backmarker’s 400m at Stawell twice, the 1979 Burnie Gift and was 4th in the 1976 Stawell Gift.

I asked about training nights, Ian explained they trained every weeknight and Sunday morning. It was only up the road at Buckley Park. It sounded like the club was a good fit, so I joined the Essendon Professional Athletic Club.

The journey begins

I started training on the following Monday – the first Monday in October 1980. Ian, virtually by default, became my coach. There were three coaches involved in the club (Ferg Speakman, John Hawke and Hagger) however as Ian was the first guy I spoke to, I ended up becoming his first athlete. There were about 20 blokes of various ages in the squad. When I joined at the age of 20, I was probably the youngest. Most were in their mid 20’s with a few around early 30’s. 

I had played cricket for the previous five summers so decided to play until my first race which would be late November. 

In late November I played my last game of cricket, then the following Saturday – 29th November 1980, I headed up to Bendigo with Hagger. I made my pro running debut in a heat of the 400m, finishing last of five, about 30m behind the main group. 

I ran throughout the VAL season, in sprint events from 70m to 400m finishing last on most occasions. I ran 34 races and did not get a handicap lift in any distance. My Stawell handicaps (70, 120, 400) were the same marks I started on.

The meets were fantastic, we travelled all over Victoria to places like Wangaratta, Bendigo, Geelong, Ararat, Dandenong and Rye. 

First Stawell experience: the seed is sown

At the end of the season, I attended my first Stawell Gift carnival. It was the 100th running of the event, with a record number of Gift entries – 295. I entered the 1981 Stawell Gift, finishing last (of seven) in my heat won by South Australian Anthony Tohl. 

I was amazed by the atmosphere at Stawell. It was very different to any sporting event I had ever been to and vastly different to the normal VAL carnival. It was huge with TV coverage and a crowd of 18,000. From the main grandstand steps, I stood and watched as the five athletes went to their marks for the final. The silence was palpable; I could hear the starter demand the athletes get on their marks. While there were random calls of “Go George” from the grandstand as the athletes waited at their blocks, the crowd was quiet, waiting for the gun. 

When the gun went, the crowd erupted into a sea of noise, urging their fancied athlete to the finish. Scotsman George McNeill stormed past the post in 11.9s to win the centenary Stawell Gift. I watched George run around, jump in the air, swamped by teammates, thinking, wow, this is one hell of a race. How cool to be a part of it.

After the meet concluded, I ended up at the Brix Hotel and enjoyed the party and the camaraderie of the athletes. I can recall George McNeill walking around in his yellow silk being mobbed like a rock star. 

The next day and for months afterwards, I kept thinking of Stawell, how great an event it is and thought how amazing it would be to have a serious crack at it. 

I can still recall a short conversation I had with Fergie Speakman some months later. I asked him about the Stawell Gift and what I would need to do to be contender. Ferg said “You’ll need the limit…and a bit more.”

The Stawell Gift limit at the time was 11.0m. 

I cheekily replied, “I’ll get the limit, you get the bit more.” 

At the time I was coached by Ian Hagger and continued to do so for the next two seasons but given we all (sprinters) did similar training, regardless of the coach, I figured, at the time, Fergie’s input would be integral to me improving.

I continued to play football at Brunswick, however my sporting focus had changed, whereby the athletics had become more than just a vehicle to get fit for footy. It was now something to get serious about. 

A New Focus: Winning the Stawell Gift

At the 1982 Stawell Gift carnival, I was fortunate to be involved with Mick Giuleri’s prep for the Stawell Gift. Mick ran a brilliant final to finish 2nd to Chris Perry. I felt helping Mick would be a terrific learning experience to be part of a genuine Stawell Gift finalist’s campaign. 

Mick was coached by Ferg Speakman, he nearly became Ferg’s fifth winner in the event. 

After 1982 I immersed myself in the history of the Stawell Gift. I was fascinated by the fact Fergie had coached four winners and several finalists in the Gift. So, there was a part of me that was secretly keen to be Fergie’s next and fifth Stawell Gift winner. I had memorised every Stawell Gift winner’s name from 1932 to the current year and read as much as I could about the coaches and stories surrounding the Gift. 

By 1983, I became obsessed with the Stawell Gift and began planning that 1985 should be the year. 

The first thing I needed to do was change coaches.Soon after Stawell 1983, I visited Ferg Speakman to ask him if he could take over as my coach. He said he would and suggested before I do anything else, I need to sort it out with Ian Hagger. 

The next day I went and saw Ian and told him of my decision to be coached by Fergie. Ian was disappointed and suggested we would be doing the same training anyway, so he didn’t see the need for a change. 

I explained to him that I felt Fergie’s experience would be beneficial and I needed someone of his ilk to keep me focussed on what I needed to do to win a decent race. 

The lift is everything

The next plan was to focus on the first part of Ferg’s advice from 1981 – the limit. 

I only had 7.75m at Stawell in 1983. Unfortunately. Kevin McKay was ultra conservative and reluctant to lift athletes. It became frustrating and at times there wasn’t the incentive to enter as the mark rarely changed. 

In 1983, Kevin was replaced as handicapper by Terry O’Donnell. Terry was more willing to lift athletes who were consistent and competed regularly. I ran as many Gifts as I could to help accelerate the mark. By the end of 1984 I had been lifted to 9.50m. 

In the winter of 1984, I left Brunswick and moved to Strathmore in the Essendon District Football League. I wasn’t too fussed about playing footy, I was there more to stay fit for athletics. I trained most days, mixing footy with track work. 

With about four games to go, I stopped playing football to concentrate on the VFA 400m series – the Nike Sprint. I won a final the first week so qualified for the final on VFA First Division grand final day where I ran 3rd.

My prep for Stawell was now under way. I ran at most of the meets, getting lifts in the Gift along the way. My improved fitness was obvious, and I was becoming competitive. I won the 400m Ringwood Gift in January. By Wangaratta, in January 1985, I had been allocated a mark of 11.0m for the 120m. 

The training plan

For a few months I had been doing multiple 400m reps at training. Up to 6 per session. Around January, Ferg had me running up a slight hill around 180m six times per week, occasionally racing 70s and 120s. 

In February we had cut the number of reps back and beginning to lighten off and speed up. In March we are doing shorter reps, going down the hill for about 60m, while engaging in regular trials over 120m. 

In March I ran at Bendigo and was warned by the stewards that I must run as hard as I can in the heat of the Bendigo 120m Gift (aka Bendigo 5000).

I ended up running the fastest heat off 11.0m, only marginally quicker than a few others. Next day I won my semifinal before finishing 5th in the final, albeit, about a metre faster than the semi. 

I thought I would be penalised up to a metre for making the final at Bendigo. I was relieved when the Stawell marks were published and I had only gone back 0.25m, to 10.75m.

We arrive at Stawell 

We went to Stawell on the Monday before Easter. I was staying with Ferg Speakman at Sylv Boag’s house in Clifton Avenue Stawell. We trained at Central Park. On Wednesday we trialled on the Stawell Gift track. I was conceding 4m to Mick Giuleri. I beat him comfortably. Ferg had clocked the trial but did not share the time. Instead, he said, if I can find a couple of yards I’m in with a chance.

On Good Friday I was apparently heavily backed and one of the favourites. Mind you, I had no money on myself.  

On Easter Saturday morning I had an awkward conversation with Ferg Speakman who did not want me to contest the 70m. I told him I did not think I could get beat in the 70m and felt, no matter what happens in the Gift, at least I’ll be leaving with one Stawell sash. 

I easily won my heat of the 70m off 9.0m in 7.37sec. 

I had a relatively easy heat of the Gift, winning by approx. 8m in 12.43sec – into a significant head wind. I ran the sixth fastest heat time, but was so comfortable I knew I could run a few metres faster on Monday 

The big day

On Easter Monday, 8th April 1985, I woke up feeling confident.  While eating breakfast, Ian Hagger who was sitting opposite, was staring at me. I asked Ian what was up. 

He said “I can’t believe you can eat your breakfast; aren’t you nervous?” I said “Not really, I’m hungry.”

Ian said “I could barely eat on the morning I ran in the Stawell Gift final, I was too nervous.” I rested after breakfast, then showered and headed off down to Central Park.

I contested a semifinal of the 70m where I ran 7.22sec. Next fastest was Scotsman David Clark with 7.42sec. A few hours later I ran the fifth semi final of the Stawell Gift, winning in 12.05sec, second fastest time behind David Clark (12.00sec). 

Mick Giuleri and I headed across the road to a private house to rest for the Gift final. It was while lying on the bed, I realised I couldn’t possibly lose the Gift. I had worked out that my 70m time had me running around 7.05s (off 10.75m) for the first 70m of the Gift distance. Dave Clark only went up 0.75m to his Gift mark to 5.75m so he was only going through the first 70m in about 7.35s. Effectively that had me 3m clear with 50m to go. I figured Clarky could only make up about 2m in the first 70m, leaving him 3m to make up in the last 50m. I felt that would be physically impossible. I calculated I should win by around 1.5m. 

I was supremely confident going into the final. I had some nerves, but more pangs of excitement and looking forward to the race. I concentrated on getting a good start and once that happened, I just looked straight ahead. I had no idea where anyone was. My eyes were fixed straight ahead. After I had crossed the line, I had no idea where I finished. 

I saw several Brunswick and work mates running towards me. I yelled “Did I win?” One of my best mates, Steve Knight (Knightsy) looked deliriously happy and shouted back, “You shit in!” I threw my arms in the area and was super happy I had done it. 

The Stawell Double

After the presentation, I had to prepare for the 70m final. The handicapper advised I had incurred a 0.75m penalty for winning the Gift. I won the Arthur Postle 70m, making it a Stawell double. I’m still the last person to win the Gift/70m double in the same year. 

I was extremely happy of course I had won what I set out to achieve after that first Stawell visit in 1981. When I changed coaches to Fergie Speakman in 1983, I made up a sign and stuck it on the inside of my cupboard door. 

The sign said:  FERGIE’S WINNERS

1932 Roy Barker
1958 Malcolm Durant
1963 John Bell
1969 Barry McLeod
1985 ????

It was there for 2 years. 

In 1986 I headed over to Scotland to run in the Border and Highland Games. 

I paid Ferg Speakman $5500 for coaching me. The rest of the prize money from Stawell was in a term deposit. Fortunately, I didn’t touch it whilst in Scotland. So, the money stayed in the bank accumulating interest and ultimately became a deposit on a house. 

Beyond Stawell: Coaching and Giving Back

During my competing days I kept journals about my training and details about coaching. I had always planned to coach so when I commenced in 1998, I applied the lessons learned from my own career. 

In the last 26 years, our squad has won 352 sashes, including multiple victories in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. 

Recently we won our seventh men’s Loxton Gift, the last four in succession. A fortnight ago, Luke Rigby became our sixth winner of the prestigious Camden Classic, one of the richest 400m events in Australia. 

Other wins include Men’s and Women’s Burnie Gifts and Bay Sheffields. 

We’ve had seven winners at Stawell in various events and three Stawell Gift finalists, including two runners-up. 

Whilst it would be nice to coach a Stawell Gift winner, it’s not as important to me as it was when I first started coaching. I’m enjoying the thrill of improving athletes and seeing them enjoy the sport and make the most of their opportunities. 

What I enjoy most about pro running is working out what an athlete can achieve with their natural talent, planning and setting athletes for events and getting them to win off a handicap that is respectable and hard earned. I think it’s very important to acknowledge the handicappers’ role, appreciate their hard work and develop a level of trust and respect whereby when you do have success, the win isn’t tainted by dubious conduct. I’ve been a handicapper, so I feel I’m in a unique position to appreciate the time and energy required.

The Legacy of the Stawell Gift

The Stawell Gift holds an iconic place in the Australian sporting landscape. I grew up watching it on TV. When I ran at Stawell in 1981, I was enthralled and hooked. I decided then to do all I could to have a crack at winning it.

Photos from top to bottom:

Paul Young wins the 70m final in the green

Paul is interviewed post Stawell Gift win by Rob Gaylard

Paul is presented with an Eileen Glover painting commissioned by the Mummery family to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Walter Mummery’s Stawell Gift in 1885

Watch the video of Paul’s Stawell Gift win here:

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