Feature: 2008 Lenora Golden Gift-Australia's richest Mile!

The Leonora Golden Gift is a unique and prestigious athletics carnival held May 31st to June 2nd in Australia's outback. The event carries $53,000AUD in prize money and has attracted the cream of Australia's middle distance runners in its 5 year history.

It’s a strange and surreal spectacle; a collection of Australia’s most elite middle distance runners all gathered in a remote outback town in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields. Why make the journey to Leonora, a town approximately ten hours drive east from Perth? The general answer to that question is the money, with over $53,000 up for grabs it’s a tempting proposition. However, there is more to the Leonora Golden Gift than the chance to back yourself to win big. It’s the experience that makes the meet, the atmosphere and community spirit. We catch up with the Shire of Leonora President Graham Dawes and race organiser Rafael Baugh for the inside goss on this year’s gift.

RunnersTribe (RT): Graham, from the Shire of Leonora’s point of view, what is the motivation behind the Golden gift?

Graham Dawes:One of the major reasons behind the Golden Gift weekend is to put Leonora on the map. The weekend isn’t just about Australia’s richest mile, we have a wealth of events and activities; including numerous other running races, racing pigeon auctions, horse shows and races, 100% ABBA, a concert with singing great Kate Ceberano, as well as many other community-based activities.

RT: In terms of the elite mile races, why is so much money put up for the race?

Elite Prize Money (all AUD)

- First: $6000 plus gold nugget

- Second: $4000

- Third: $2000

- Fourth: $1500

- Fifth: $1000

- Sixth: $750

- Seventh: $500

- Eighth: $250

GD: I was amazed to learn a few years ago that many of our elite runners get very little financial assistance from the government or sponsors. In comparison to swimming, runners seem to get a raw deal. So I guess it is great to see these amazing runners getting some financial gain for their hard work and success. Also, if one of these runners was to go on and represent Australia or win some big race overseas, it would be rewarding to think that the Shire of Leonora helped these athletes to reach such heights.

RT: What about the local and surrounding communities; it must be a great weekend for the kids?

GD: Yes; we have a reasonable number of Indigenous Australians in our community and it’s great to see the young kids racing in the junior races. The speed of some of these kids is simply amazing. Without a doubt it is the biggest weekend on our calendar and it definitely brings the community together.

RT: Raf, you have organized the elite male and female races a few times in the past, what are we to expect from this years race and who are the confirmed starters?

Rafael Baugh(RB):This year we have attracted a different type of field compared to previous years. As Australia’s very top middle distance runners are obviously focusing specifically on the Olympics this year, the event is much more open. In previous years, once word got out that a few of those top athletes were racing, the next tier seemed to step back and stay away. This year a lot more athletes think they have a chance to win and hence we are seeing the deepest fields in the events history for both men and women. For the men we have a host of talent including Victorians Paul Hoffman and World Junior Rep Craig Huffer. From New South Wales we have David Byrne, Brett Halls and Ben St Lawrence. We have Jason Woolhouse, a New Zealand athlete living and training in Melbourne. And from West Australia we have Chris DeBoer, Sam Burke and Courtney Carter. In addition, we have former French Junior Cross Country Champion Yoan Meudec. I expect that we will see the closest race in history and the crowd will be on the edge of their seats. In the women’s mile, we have numerous National representatives including Emma Rilen, Nikki Molan, Madelaine Heiner, World Junior Rep Bridey Delaney, Chavon Livey and UK’s Linda Spencer.

RT: How did the race concept originally come about and what has made the event such a success?

RB:The primary reason for the event and its success is that the people of Leonora have a “can do” attitude. The place rides the wave of success and failure based on the mining industry and the people in the town always tough it out. In that way, the people relate to the ups and downs faced by runners in races and training.

The town used to hold the Sons of Gwalia biathlon (run and bike), which carried $8000 prize money, for 5 years in the late 90’s but then the mine shut down and the event stopped. The Leonora Shire was keen to continue the athletic tradition so added “WA’s richest Mile” to the town’s Foundation Day celebrations in 2003. After the event, a few local athletes were at the pub and Shire President Graham Dawes, the legend that he is, said to us “Look boys, we know it is great to have WA’s richest Mile, but how much would it cost to get some decent athletes and make it Australia’s richest?”. After some discussion Ray Boyd (Australian Marathon Rep) suggested a figure. Two weeks later, while back in Perth, I got a phone call from Graham saying “Raf, it’s Graham from Leonora, we have the money, now you have to help us organise the thing”. That was basically it. The organisers, sponsors, community and council of Leonora and the Goldfields region work very hard and are justifiably proud of the way the event has grown since then and they deserve a big pat on the back.

Results and a full race review will be available here within 12 hours post race. This article has been produced by The Runner’s Tribe with help from the Leonora Shire Council and Rafael Baugh.