It's almost as if every time Matthews feels fit and ready to go in the lead up to the Stawell Gift, something goes wrong.

But it isn't making him any less determined with his love of sprinting burning as brightly as ever leading in Australia's richest foot race.

Matthews will join over 700 runners in vying for a slice of more than $120,000 in prize money as he lines up in the 120 metre Stawell Gift and 70m Arthur Postle Handicap.

He's experienced his fair share of setbacks, but he laughs it is just "the nature of sport" as he looks to make a successful return from a foot injury that has severely hampered his training.

"It's like anything. When you love playing a sport or being involved in a sport, like I do love sprinting, [you'll keep bouncing back]," Matthews said.

"It is tough, especially when you're getting a bit older and you think if you should just pull the pin and focus on other parts of your life.

"But when you enjoy something that much you just keep going back, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully one day it all just falls into place and you can actually win what you're trying to strive towards."

Matthews has made three Stawell Gift finals but missed last year's event after tweaking his back at work, running his own small business installing floor heating.

The back injury followed a few torn hamstrings and a groin reconstruction that has all made for a torrid few years.

"It's probably not the best profession to try and train and run really fast, when you're down on your hands and knees all day," Matthews said.

"I tweaked my back in the lead up to last year's Gift and then I just put a line through it and said I'll have a break this time and just get back into winter training, which in hindsight didn't really happen."