One of the toughest events on the Wangaratta Sports Club Carnival program is the Wangaratta Club/Phillipson Street Clinic 1600m Handicap.

To level the playing field runners can start hundreds of metres in front of the backmarkers and it was no different on Saturday with backmarker Will Lovett off 80m, 260m behind some of the frontmarkers in the four lap elongated sprint.

As the laps progress the gaps shorten and by the time of the bell lap Lovett was coming into third place with the crowd cheering him on.

The man in white barely slackened the pace as he took the lead some 250m from home and broke the tape with his arms in the air, his joy obvious for the entire stadium to see.

Lovett finished in a time of 4.08.482, just ahead of Phil Noden off 270m (4.11.646) and Tez Kavanagh-Dando off 185m (4.12.895).

After the race Lovett dedicated his win to his grandfather Bruce Newman, a well-known Wangaratta identity and former businessman, and that was the 20-year-old's first stop after the carnival.

"I wanted to get the sash for him," Lovett said.

"I think he was a bit overwhelmed but very excited about the win and was immediately looking for a place to hang it in his home.

"Winning at Wangaratta was definitely the most important to me because of the sentimental value.

"I've just come back from injury (a broken toe in October) so this season was about finding form again and possibly getting some PBs on the board."

Lovett paid tribute to his coach Mark Hipworth and also the owners of the running specialty store, Runners Paradise in Blackburn, where he works, and his own family for their support.

"'Hippo' invests a lot of time and energy in my running, Runners Paradise treat me like family and really look after me, and my own family came out to watch on Saturday and have always supported my running so I want to thank all of them," he said.

Lovett's next challenge will be the Beachside Mile at Mentone on 31 January, and longer term to represent Australia, with the World University games his most likely avenue to his dream.