Matt Gunther, a former Dennington cricketer, beat thousands across the finish line, completing the 42-kilometre trek in two hours, 21 minutes and 14 seconds.

Winner Brett Robinson navigated the course in 2:14.33.

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The schoolteacher, who moved from Warrnambool to Geelong 10 years ago, said it was a humbling achievement.

"All around school today it's been a little bit exciting and I'm getting a bit of love which is nice," Gunther told The Standard.

Gunther ran 150 kilometres a week in the six months leading up to the marathon.

"I had a really good training block going in and the quality of the field was really good so I knew there was going to be a lot of people to run with around the same mark," he said.

Gunther, 28, also completed the Melbourne marathon in 2017 and 2018.

The former Geelong Cricket Club assistant coach said his third attempt was "comfortably" his best, running "30 minutes quicker".

It followed a strong effort in Tasmania earlier this year.

"I ran 2.25 in Hobart so it was four minutes quicker than that which was nice," Gunther said.

Gunther, who enjoyed bumping into south-west runners at the marathon, will aim for Gold Coast in July and will then focus on overseas events in 2023.