Gallery | George Nelson Shepparton Gift continues its growth after 2025 success

The third edition of the event after a 20-year hiatus went off without a hitch, as runners stretched, steadied and sprinted their way through the various events.

Daughter of George Nelson and one of the organisers of the Shepparton Gift Robynne Nelson said the day was special for her and her family, as a constant stream of people came up to speak kindly about her father.

“That was very emotional to have,” Nelson said.

“Some were old people in their 80s, one was one of the officials in the middle of the ground.

“Other people had been trained by him or had their kids trained by him and that just blew me away — it just shows the reach of Dad.

“He had a 50-year career so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.”

As the crowd rolled into the grounds on Saturday, Nelson said she was sure it was the most-attended Shepparton Gift since its reincarnation.

“I couldn’t tell you the crowd numbers but the car park was full,” she said.

“We had 500 entries this year.

“People were really positive about it, enjoying it, raving about it.

“People thought it was fantastic for the town, the region and the running.”

Moving forward, Nelson and the committee’s top priority will be to increase sponsorship for the event.

Nelson said the more businesses they could get backing the George Nelson Shepparton Gift, the more they could lure elite athletes to compete.

“It’s about growing our sponsorship (from now on),” she said.

“You can offer more prize money and then the elite will come, then the crowd comes.”

Nelson praised the gift committee members for volunteering their time and energy to ensure the event was a success.

“People have their own jobs but they were working tirelessly to get the event up and running,” she said.

“I want to thank them for putting on such a great event in honour of my dad.”

Seymour runner Olivia Attard dominated during Saturday’s events, claiming two sashes.

The Kelfit athlete kicked off her meet with a win in heat one of the open 800m, running a time of 1:54.288 off a mark of 132m to earn a spot in the final, where she was joined by Seymour compatriot Cooper Lubeck, who placed second in heat two off just 24m.

Wearing the orange singlet in the final, Attard lined up again off 132m and held her nerve to run home in a blistering 1:53.057, claiming her first win of the day with a margin of more than one-and-a-half seconds to second place.

Lubeck, who again ran off 24m in the red singlet, came home in sixth, running a time of 2:00.097.

Attard’s day wasn’t done, however, as she lined up in a stacked field of 19 competitors for the open 1600m where she started off a mark of 285m, blitzing the field to cross the line in 4:14.053, a full four seconds ahead of second place, to win her second sash of the meet.

In the junior events, Shepparton’s Callum Ellis won the U9-12 70m and came second in the U9-12 300m.

Shepparton’s Liam Beattie came third in the U9-12 300m while Charlotte Ellis won the U6-8 70m.