Of course grasshoppers dont know that MCNEILL beat Tommie Smith in 1972 that he inspired Wilson Young and then ALLAN WELLS... that he won POWDERHALL and held the 120y WR at 11.0 and would have challenged BORZOV to the 72 Olympic title if he were eligible to compete....WHITEY WAS HARD not like now... GOUT GOUT may not be white but he can certainly win and take his place among the legends...as nephew Matt has said PETER NORMAN would be delighted...
it's so much more interesting than just the favourite wins because he's fastest.
These races are handicapped on the sprinter's form over several races. The idea is that people of various ability can run their best on the day and have a chance of winning the $$$ purse. This form of racing means people keep competing over sometimes many decades, knowing if you run your very best on the day you can succeed in winning and collecting a nice $$ purse.
You know horse racing works on handicapping too? but they have weights in the saddle rather than head starts.
It is a 3 day festival in the Victorian country town of Stawell and a wonderful way to spend an Easter break. Don't think of it as a national championships type meet - we have those too (they are on in Perth at the moment actually).