Tutu-wearing Piped Piper is star of the show

Ross Steele and supporters during his 100th marathon in Rotorua on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

Ross Steele completed his 100th marathon on Saturday to fulfil a goal that has driven him through chronic hip pain to the finish line.

The Tauranga 60-year-old did the Rotorua Marathon the hard way, walking the 42.6 kilometre distance from whoa to go, but he had a remarkable support crew with him every step of the way.

Dressed in his trademark bright orange shirt and tutu, Steele cut quite a figure among more than 3000 competitors with his supporters all decked out in orange.

Steele says it was "absolutely magic and special beyond belief".

"It was amazing times, lots of orange tutus, the crowd support was great, just a special day.

"The weather was stunning. I had a band of friends who followed me around the lake, and it was orange wherever we went and wherever we looked."

The last section of the marathon saw Steele's daughters give their Dad a surprise.

"Coming down the finishing line was pretty emotional. My two daughters and grandees rocked up and surprised me about the 37km mark which may have brought a bit of moisture to my eyes," he says.

"They had been to see my 99th, and they weren't going to be coming over. Kids being kids, they did surprise me. So it was just incredibly special.

"I had quite a few friends who walked the last 5 to 10km with me which made me feel like the Pied Piper. It was pretty cool."

His troublesome left hip meant he needed his walking poles over the last 10km, but he made it in just over 8 hours, 7 minutes.

Steele is booked in for surgery in June to fix the hip problem and expects to be back running marathons around four hours again soon.

"Walking a marathon is a different beast to running. My shins and quads were fairly sore and eight hours is a full day at the office," he said.

Rotorua Marathon organisers played their part by allocating Steele entry number 100 and making a fuss of him as he neared the finish line.

"There was a big drum roll for me coming down the finish line which I greatly appreciated. I had a quick chat on the mic, too, with one of the organising boys and they very kindly gave me a mention at the prizegiving."

Steele is a member of the famed Seven Continents Club of international competitors who have completed marathons on all seven continents.

But he met a Japanese runner who has a record that far exceeds anything he could ever imagine doing.

"It was his 800th marathon on Saturday. I would need some pretty big concrete pills for that," he laughed.