The event is Dementia Australia's largest national fundraising event of the year, allowing people to sign up and raise funds within their community before taking part in a walk, jog or run.

This year was the first time the event took place in Wagga, with participants meeting at Apex Park on Sunday morning and circling the lake in groups.

The first group of around 20 people took off at 8am, and nearly everyone involved had a personal story to share - including Jodi and Karl Mikolic.

"Most of the significant women in my family - my mum's mum, my mum, my mum's two sisters, my mother in law - were all affected by dementia, so it's really important for me to do something to honour them and and to help other people that might be suffering the same," Mrs Mikolic said.

It is the couple's first time participating in the memory walk and jog, after they lost their mothers to dementia in 2013 and 2016.

"It's sort of just been now that [I feel] I could actually do something," Mrs Mikolic said.

She set her fundraising goal at $500 and was "really stoked" to surpass this, raising $544 for dementia support and research.

"It affects us all," Mrs Mikolic said.

"It's not something that you can say 'it wont happen to me' because you just don't know."

Greg Steinke also took part in the event for the first time this year, setting up his Red Nova Coffee van and donating all of the profits to the cause.

He said raising money for dementia research is "really important to him", as his mother has early onset dementia and he recently moved back to Wagga from Western Australia to help care for her.

Mr Steinke only started his coffee business three weeks ago and said it's been going great so far.

"I thought it would take a lot longer to get into events and get a regular crowd but it's been really good so far," he said.

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On Sunday he was aiming to raise $500 to go towards Dementia Australia, so that people don't need to go through this journey alone.

"[I want people to know] how much it affects not only the person, but the people around them as well," Mr Steinke said.

Dementia is the second leading cause of death of Australians with an estimated 487,500 people across the country living with the condition.

CEO Maree McCabe said the event is an opportunity to show those suffering they are not alone.

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