In front of a packed crowd at Lake Pertobe cheering them along the way, 32-year-old Daniel Hart became the first male to cross the finish line with an ultra-impressive time of 32.01, ahead of Warrnambool runners Ben Wallis and Tom Inverarity.

It was the fourth time Hart has competed in the Surf 'T' Surf and after some close finishes in previous years, got away to a strong start and managed to hold the lead all the way.

"It was definitely a pretty tough run. The plan was to keep with whoever came with me, but obviously no one came with me so had to do it solo which is the hard way," he said after the race.

He is now fully focused on preparations for the Tokyo Marathon in early March.

"The body is going alright, I'm training for the marathon now in March, so there won't be any more races for me now," he said.

"I'm just going to be focusing on doing a lot of long runs on the Sunday and get into my work for the marathon."

He said Warrnambool was like another home and always enjoyed competing in the event.

"My wife is from down this way so it's always nice to come visit. Her sister and dad live here so we come visit a fair bit, it's nice down here," he said.

"It's good to get in some runs while we're down here as well."

Fellow Geelong runner Alana Plymin was the first female across the finish line with a quick time of 37.33 ahead of Fleur Barling.

"I'm pretty exhausted, it felt like the last hills were about 6km to be honest. A few surprises popped up that's for sure," she said with a laugh.

"Equally challenging downhill but starting on that hill is pretty tough. There's a few intense climbs up there. But it was a good run."

She said it was her fourth time competing at the event but this time around there was a different element to it.

"This is an inaugural event with one of my good mates who I train with, we have a bit of a battle every year which is a bit of fun," she said.

"I just love coming down here and competing."

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