More than 600 took part in the Border’s first Memory Walk and Jog at Belvoir Park in Wodonga to support Alzheimer’s Australia’s plight in finding a cure for dementia.

Among the crowd was Gerri Jones and 15 members of her family, who rallied for the event after her mother died three weeks ago.

“Mum had been in a nursing home for two years, we’d already decided we were doing it and then we lost her suddenly,” she said.

“Unless you’ve got someone who has dementia, you have no idea how bad it is.

“We don’t want anyone to go through what we’ve gone through with mum, it’s cruel.”

Ms Jones said there was a “desperate” need for more funding to find a cure for dementia in light of projected incidence rise.

“Let’s get the message out, get the funds there for the research and find the cure because it's getting worse,” she said.

“There's not going to be the nursing homes there to cater for it or funding from the government for the high-care nursing that’s required.”

The event comes after Alzheimer’s Australia labelled the federal budget a “shortfall” for dementia with no new major policies or funding to tackle the disease.

Alzheimer’s Australia Victoria chief executive Maree McCabe was at the Sunday event and said it was a step forward for more research.

“These community events are fabulous for raising awareness considering the number of clients who tell us how profoundly isolating dementia is,” she said.

“In Australia right now we’ve got over 350,000 people living with some form of dementia.

“By 2050, without a medical breakthrough we’ll have around one million and there won’t be anyone in Australia that isn’t impacted in some way.

“The money from this and other events will go towards services, furthering education and research.”

The donation page for the Albury-Wodonga event is still open but has surpassed $12,000 with Albury’s Di Stepto raising the most money individually at $1100.

She was joined by family members from as far as Melbourne, including Kerrie Christie.

“I’ve done it in Mornington Peninsula and Geelong,” she said.

“It’s the most dreadful disease and it’s got to get out there, the importance of raising money to get to the bottom of it.”

It was her fifth time taking part in the event and the third time she had been awarded best dressed. 

The winner of the 10km race was Ashley Hoffman in a time of under 40 minutes.

Lawrence-Aiden Hake was the fastest competitor aged under 12.