For only the fifth time since 1878, there will be no Stawell Gift at Easter - running only paused for four years in World War II. Ripple effects of coronavirus continue to hurt.

Far more than a footrace, Stawell Gift is a ritual for so many whether it is in making the pilgrimage to Central Park or tuning in for the final on Easter Monday.

It remains unclear whether the Gift might instead be run in spring. Perhaps a line should be drawn through it now. This is about more than the climactic magic Stawell offers runners across the nation each Easter.

Years of preparation go into Stawell for Easter from athletes and organisers.

What we mostly see in a few seconds, especially for the headline sprints, is often a couple of years' building and training and tactics in choosing the right lead-up events for athletes on the road to Stawell.

To suspend this moment a few months is just like putting the Olympics on hold. Athletes need to adjust their whole lives and there is a massive risk is the formula will not work.

Stawell Gift 2012 winner Matt Wiltshire said there were the seemingly obvious physical risks that come with re-working a training schedule. But Wiltshire said by far, the biggest challenge would be mentally - especially this year remained in limbo.

Straight after Easter is when professional runners delve into winter, cross-training programs.

"You need the self-motivation to keep training and you need to stick to your diet, which is hard enough in isolation," Wiltshire said. "It's tough mentally, let alone to be prepared for this to come back. People set themselves up for years for this race. People give up work for training. People give up every weekend to compete for the chance to win the biggest race in Australia."

Wiltshire said he felt sick when he heard the carnival had been cancelled for Easter.

While no longer competing, Wiltshire remains in the convoy to Stawell every Easter. His grandfather John Wiltshire has missed one Stawell Gift the past 65 years.

Decorated Ballarat sprinter and trainer Peter O'Dwyer has athletes in a variety of training phases: some are nursing niggles; some are on winter programs; a few are still train in pairs.

The ritual each Easter is where O'Dwyer and his family will feel it most. He has not missed a Gift in about 35 years. His daughters know no different.

For more than a century, this professional running carnival was exclusive to male competitors. Last Monday marked five years to the day when O'Dwyer's daughter Grace became the first female to win the Stawell Women's Gift on parity.

Stawell has drawn stars from Cathy Freeman and Tamsyn Lewis to pole-vaulter Steve Hooker, Jamaican Asafa Powell and Australia's fastest female Mel Breen.

Once you have been there, once you have felt Central Park on Easter Monday, there is an undeniable thrall that keeps drawing you back. It truly is part of folklore.

Melanie Whelan is a journalist with The Courier.