The presents are the trade-off he has been promising his kids for the time he has spent training to try to make the final of the Stawell Gift. On Saturday, he won his heat and made the semi-finals.

Phelan is the oldest runner in the semi-finals of the Stawell Gift.

"I'm 41 turning 42, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it and there's been a lot of sacrifices in the last year - particularly family time for training," Phelan said.

"It's been every weekend running, every night missing dinner because I am either at the gym or at the track. The kids say, 'Daddy let's play' and I say, 'I'd love to but I have to stretch or something'. It will definitely be family time post-Easter."

Phelan's children, Tamia and Caiden, have taken to his running as his own personal trainers.

"I have one five-year-old (Caiden) and one who's eight. The eight-year-old, Tamia, is my dietician and part-time masseuse. She smacks my hand every time I pick up something that is fatty or sugary and says, 'Daddy if you eat that you won't win'.

"I have promised her so many things over the last five years if I made a Stawell Gift final thinking it was not going to happen. If I do I think it will send me broke - a couple of ponies and a trip to Disneyland, a Fitbit and loads of things. But I would be happy to pay that out if I get there."

This is Phelan's fifth gift after only taking up serious running at 35. He initially went down to his local club to run again and they pointed him towards the masters runners. He felt a bit of the odd one out among the runners there at the time who were all edging closer to 70 than 40.

"I had not done much since I was 18 because of injuries and things and then I just went along to Glenhuntly [athletics club in Melbourne] and went from strength to strength. I ran a 200 pb just two weeks ago, so I was pretty happy with that. I have been in good form, if the body holds together anything is possible," he said.

For Phelan, making the final will be victory enough. Matthew Rizzo's sights are set higher.

Rizzo is the firm favourite after running 12.1 seconds in his heat on Saturday - 0.2s faster than the next best runner. He was the favourite with the bookies before the heats and was further confirmed in that spot after the impressive heat.

He is philosophical about what lies ahead knowing runners' times drop by Monday, but a repeat of Saturday's 12.1s time would make him very hard to beat. It's been six years since a winner of the gift broke 12 seconds.