Forbes’ Darcy Morrison and Dylan Gunn have taken out the 2016 Ben Hall Gifts in the open womens and mens divisions respectively. Morrison just nudged out sister Nicole by a mere 0.17 seconds, finishing with a time of 13.74 seconds, while Gunn ran an impressive time of 11.53 seconds, 0.25 seconds ahead of runner-up Ozzie Toole.
Gunn, a former regular runner, said after his race win he may now consider getting back in to sprinting after surprising himself with how well he ran. “I used to run for the school quite a bit when I was still in high school, and I used to do Little Athletics” he said. “But I haven’t really done much running in the last year or so.”
Both athletes took home $600 prize money, with runners-up taking $200. Forbes Shire Council says it hopes to increase money for the Gift in the years to come. Gunn said with his win coming on Australia Day, he was very grateful to have made his achievement on such a significant occasion. “It’s great seeing everyone come around [to watch]. In the past I’ve competed up in Sydney where there’s no one you know,” he said.
“It’s good on Australia Day. Everyone’s down amongst it, and it’s great for the community.” The other divisions that ran in the Gift on Australia Day were under 10s boys, 10-14 boys, junior girls, junior rugby league 14s, junior rugby league 16s, celebrity, rugby union v rugby league, 15-17 years girls and 15-17 years boys.
In respective order the winners were Jonah Little, Coby Ryan, Annie O’Connor, Coby Ryan, Charlie Staines, Scott Toole, Ozzie Toole, Nicole Morrison, and Ozzie Toole again.