He could see the timer above the Melbourne Marathon finish line but he knew well before he made that final turn. He knew his pace. He knew what he needed to do.

Creighton triumphantly threw his hands into the air as he broke the Australian men's over-50s marathon record at the Melbourne Marathon Festival on Sunday.

The 52-year-old crossed the finish line at 2:29:23; breaking Canberran Peter Kallio's former record of 2:30:52, which he set in 1987.

"The thrill of setting and achieving a difficult goal never gets old," Creighton said.

"The satisfaction I got out of running two hours and 29 minutes was every bit equal to the satisfaction I got running two hours and 10 minutes, 22 years ago [in Berlin]."

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As Creighton ran across the MCG he thought of his late friend Kerryn McCann, who won the marathon event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games by two seconds.

McCann died from breast cancer two years after she defended her Commonwealth Games title and claimed gold at the venue.

"It was a deep sense of satisfaction coming onto the MCG knowing the record was in my grasp," Creighton said.

"I was lucky enough to be in the MCG when the late, great Kerryn McCann won the Commonwealth Games in dramatic circumstances. I was thinking of Kerryn throughout the period.

"I knew right from the start I was on pace because of my Garmin watch, but it was whether I could hold it together which is easier said than done. I was able to hold it together, finished off strongly and that secured getting the record."

Creighton narrowly missed out on breaking the record when he won the Perth Marathon last year at 2:32.12.

He unofficially broke the record at the Christchurch Marathon in June with a time of 2:30.22, but the course was altered due to an earlier storm.

"It was uncertain whether the time I ran in Christchurch counted for record purposes because we went off the official course so I didn't lodge the paperwork," Creighton said.

"I thought, just to be sure, 'I'll come down to Melbourne and make sure there's no uncertainty whether the record is valid.' It was nice to tick it off.

"It's been a couple of years in the making with a couple of twists and turns."

The 42^nd edition of the Melbourne Marathon became Australia's largest marathon event in history, with 37,185 people taking part on Sunday.

Creighton will next compete in the Canberra Times Fun Run on November 10 despite taking six weeks to recover from a marathon event.

The former Olympian has taken part in nine of the last ten editions of the annual event and says it kick started his dream to break the Australian over-50s record.

"I've improved by almost a minute every year in the Canberra Times Fun Run as part of my journey back to fitness," Creighton said.

"When I got down to 33 minutes at the Fun Run, that's when I starting thinking I might be able to get the Australian over-50 records.

"I'll run this year but the marathon will still be in my legs, but certainly it's something I've done for the last ten years and making sure I don't get too lazy over winter. Come [spring], you've always got to test yourself for the Canberra Times Fun Run."