Glory days … Andrea Benton reflects on her famous sprint win at her Yarraville home. 59831
By Michael Esposito
The first woman to achieve the feat was Andrea Benton in 1996. The Yarraville resident reflected on her famous victory, which happened to be 50 years after her grandfather Jim won the Gift and the 70m sprint.
“I remember prior to the final, before each heat or semi or final you warm up and you get some funny looks from the men who are in the final, trying to intimidate you,” she said.
Benton’s brother Dean was her trainer at the time. Dean is a highly sought-after fitness coach who has worked with the Brisbane Broncos, Adelaide Crows, and is now in Japan training members of the Canon rugby team. He also coached 1997 Keilor Gift winner Steven Tilburn.
Benton did not need any further convincing when Dean encouraged her to compete with the men.
“He’s the one who really pushed and supported me to compete against the men. Because that’s where you challenge yourself,” she said.
“I trained with a squad of men. I trained six days with them so it became a natural thing. They didn’t intimidate me, because you’re training with them all the time,” she said.
Benton won the race off a handicap of seven metres, but she was not the frontmarker. There was one (male) runner in front of her.
For the record, Katie Moore won the Open 70m final last year with Kendra Hubbard and Emma Johnson finishing second and third respectively.
Hubbard was also a finalist in the recent Wangaratta Gift, the first time a woman has made the final in the race’s history.
This year’s Keilor Gift will be run on 19 February.
