Ms Dempsey has written numerous letters to the Stawell Athletic Club committee pleading with them to work through the challenges of changing the names in the small window of time between races.

Ms Dempsey said she was delighted to hear this year, her vision was becoming reality as the athletic club were willing to trail changing the names.

"I think it's important to have equal representation of both males and females that compete in the sport," she said. "We've come a long way over the years with equal prize money and having both events televised and now this just aligns with all the work that's been done in this space as well."

Athletic club president Geoff McDermott said the turnaround time was very limited but believed it could be achieved.

"We've been great advocates for ensuring equal prize money for both men's and women's Gift and responsible for getting the commemorative stones under the trees in the Main Street to celebrate the women's achievements at the event," he said.

"It's all about promoting the event - women make up 50 per cent of the population why should it be any different. We're going to give it our best shot and see what we can do this year. The change might even lead to more changes in the future for the scoreboard which are well and truly overdue."

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