The Victorian Athletic League meet, named in honour of the mercurial athlete, mentor and Yorta Yorta man, is back for its fourth edition since returning from a 20-year hiatus.
The gift has grown year on year, and chairman Gerard Adams is expecting more of the same.
“It’s coming along quite well, we’re expecting lots of good athletes to come from Melbourne,” Adams said.
“Seymour Gift was a huge success in terms of crowds and community involvement – we’re trying to build a similar culture.
“The sport is getting a lot of attention; it’s definitely growing and we’re keen for Shepparton to continue to grow.”
The gift typically attracts hundreds of athletes competing in the summer series and the sport's popularity has exploded recently, which Adams believes will deliver the biggest event in the gift's history.
“We had some great things happen last year – we had an Indigenous person win the race (Kevin Brittain) and had a fantastic athlete from Seymour (Olivia Attard) who won with us and went on to Stawell.
“The Little Athletics in particular is going to be a lot better this year because we have a date that doesn’t clash with their regional event.
“We’re expecting some good little athletics races and lots of attendees.
“The Shepparton Running Club are going to run the final of their gift at our event as well.”
With about 500 competitors in last year’s edition, the sky’s the limit as the gift becomes one of the premier stops on the VAL schedule.
