Bee, 19, finished the strongest of the six-man field off his start mark of five metres, holding off runner-up David Tinney by 0.12 seconds with Glenn Ross further back in third spot.

The amateur 400-metre runner said he was desperate to win to cover his future racing expenses.

“I’m not working at the moment so I needed to win the Gift to get to Perth and Sydney if I get in the track classic,” Bee said.

After finishing second in last year’s Ballarat Gift, Bee said he was confident of coming to Albury and getting a win despite specialising in the 400 metres.

“I thought if I went as well as I did in Ballarat I’d come up and have a win,” he said.

Bee, who started running only a few years ago after playing footy in his early teens, said the win was made more special due to the fact he used to live in Albury.

“I was a local here not long ago and Mum still lives here so I should be back next year,” he said.

“It was good to get up and have a win ... I didn’t get a very good start in the semi so I rang ... Gerard Keating who was the fastest white man in the world ... he just told me to strive hard for the first 30 (metres) and hit the line hard.

“With 40 metres to go I just tried to relax because I was in front.”

In yesterday’s 100-metre Border and North East fastest footballer race Albury Thunder’s Chris Seaton blitzed the eight-man field to hit the line first in a time of 11.63 seconds from Wodonga Diamonds’ Adam Waters (11.81 seconds).

Seaton, who raced earlier in the day, said he was happy to win for his club.

“I’m pretty excited, it’s one up for the Thunder,” Seaton said.

“We’ve got the strongest, the fastest and the best league so bring on 2012.”

In the women’s Gift final, Wodonga’s Tabitha West was no match over 120 metres for Geelong’s Kim McDonough who, running for the first time in five years, was never headed after starting off 13 metres.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Brendan Cole capped off the successful day in style, chasing down all competitors to win the men’s 400 metres open final.