 He was also an accomplished professional footrunner with his best win being the 1961 Keilor Gift.Following his death in 2002, the richest and most prestigious 70m sprint event on the professional running calendar was named in his honour.The Don Furness Memorial sprint has been held since 2003 and is held at the Avondale Heights Gift athletic meet each year (February) and has a handicap limit of 6.0m.