At 61, this Aussie running icon still mixes it with the younger generation

Commonwealth Games medallist Steve Moneghetti will be at the Lake Pertobe start line on Sunday, January 7, joining hundreds of participants in the 10-kilometre race.

Moneghetti, 61, finished fourth in the 2023 edition 12 months ago.

"While it's one of my favourite runs, it's challenging," he told The Standard.

"The course always wins. You know there's some courses that are pretty flat and fast and you nail it every time and Surf T Surf is not one of them.

"It's always challenging out the back around the cemetery, Hopkins River then there's a couple of pinches that always seem to get me.

"I haven't raced as much over the last 12 months as I'd like, so it's nice to think in 2024 we can start the year off with a good race under my belt."

Moneghetti, who won four Commonwealth Games medals - three in the marathon and one in 10,000 metres -has never won the Surf T Surf.

"I raced once way back when, it might have been 1990. I needed a race leading into Commonwealth Games (in Auckland)," he said.

"I was leading but my coach wanted me to go a bit further so I didn't cross the finish line - I kept going, so I didn't actually win that year. I was going to but I don't think I have ever technically won the race down there."

Moneghetti believes his quickest time in the Surf T Surf is about 32 minutes and 30 seconds.

"Last year I was about 33-and-half and this year if I break 35 I'll be going damn well," he said.

The Ballarat-based athlete and father-of-four said he was grateful he could still run at a decent level.

Competing provides an adrenaline rush.

"I love the feeling that running hard gives me and the challenge it provides," he said.

"Obviously I am not running as well as I was - I am getting gradually slower and worse.

"But there's something about just getting on the start line, you're always a bit nervous the night before and morning of, then you run the race and you run hard and you're knackered at the finish but you share the stories of what unfolded with the other competitors and I love that social side."

The Surf T Surf consists of 10km and 6km runs, a 6km walk and the 3km lap of the lake.

The 10km runners will start at 8.15am.