NO OTHER race in Australia captures the romance of history like the Australia Post Stawell Gift.
It's beamed to 46 countries live around the world and gets terrific media support. All so we can all watch the annual 12 seconds of drama at the tiny Victorian gold-mining town.
When Andrew Robinson swooped through the finish gates at 2.45pm yesterday, Tasmanian sport instantly had a new star.
He became the first Tasmanian since Ken Hutton in 1941 to win the Gift, coincidentally off the same handicap. The links continued, however, when Robinson's coach Ray Quarrel was presented with the traditional winning coach's trophy.
Quarrel was himself a pro runner back in the day and his first coach was Barry McLeod.
Often former winners are invited back to present the coach's purse. Yesterday, it was McLeod, the 1969 Stawell Gift winner, who presented his former charge with the coach's award.
It's history like that that is unique to professional foot running, and in particular Stawell. It provides a true chance for athletes who aren't international stars to shine.
At Stawell on Good Friday, 154 men hoped to etch their names in the record books. Realistically only a handful or two would have known deep down they could run fast enough off their handicap.
For Robinson and Quarrel, they were quietly confident, but not 100 per cent certain. You never can be, given the amount of variables.
However, Robinson's story is one of progression, not often told unless people reach the heights he did.
As a teenager running for North Launceston, Robinson was a regular at interclub meetings at St Leonards Athletics Centre and often travelled to Hobart for exposure to greater competition.
Two years ago he was part of Tasmania's bronze medal 4x100m relay team at the Australian junior championships.
Timing his taper to perfection, he opted not to risk injury by running at the Tasmanian Track and Field Championships last weekend. His coach claimed he was beating training partner Jacob Despard off his mark easily, before Despard went on to win the state 200m title.
What's even better for the UTAS student is that at only 20 years of age his running future lies ahead of him.
Once the gloss of his Easter glory fades, he has upwards of 15 years ahead of him to line up in races around the world as the boy from Tassie who won Australia's famous race - the Stawell Gift.
