Family helps Ron to the Surf 'T' Surf finish line

Ronald McCorkell, walking stick in hand, proved the well-worn adage age is no barrier as he finished the six-kilometre walk with his daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter by his side.

They were the last of the 1524 entrants across the finish line but received warm applause as they made their way down the straight at Lake Pertobe.

Mr McCorkell, 84, completed his first Surf ‘T’ Surf walk last year.

The former Warrnambool premiership footballer admitted it was tougher the second time around.

“I got through it. It was just about too far,” he said.

Mr McCorkell, who said it was special to have his family’s support, finished the hilly course in one hour and 29 minutes.

“I have been doing a lot of walking to keep myself fit,” he said.

“I try and walk three times a week. I walked 6km last week so that’s what made me think I could do it again today.”

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Steve Moneghetti, a strong supporter of the Surf ‘T’ Surf, praised organisers for their dedication.

“There were people here on Friday night handing out numbers and lots of people are involved just to get this run on,” he said.

“We turn up, the gun goes off, we come back and get a recovery banana and off we go. But there is a lot of work that goes into putting a race on.”

Moneghetti finished second in the 10km men’s run behind Geelong’s Brenton Rowe, who made it a hat-trick of victories.