Former Bermuda International Marathon winner Ron Hill made headline news at the weekend when he completed 50 years of running at least one mile each and every day.

He has training log books stretching back to the 1950s, and they show that since December 20, 1964, he has not missed a day’s training — even when he had a leg in a plaster cast.

His achievement was featured on the BBC news, and the US-based website runeveryday.com recognises Mr Hill, 76, as the holder of the longest “running streak” in the world. Mr Hill, who has happy memories of his time in Bermuda, completed his 50-year milestone at a five-kilometre event in Manchester, England, near to where he lives.

He told The Royal Gazette: “I started running every day as a reaction to running badly in the Tokyo Olympics.

“I ran once a day and then started running twice a day. I had to do that to get the miles in. That’s what was needed to be successful.”

He set a string of long distance UK national and world records in the 1960s, and was the first British winner of the Boston Marathon in 1970. His victory in the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh the same year was also the fastest marathon of his career at 2:09:28.

During the 1970s he underwent an operation on a bunion that required a plaster cast on his leg for six weeks, despite which he continued to log at least one mile a day in training.

In 1978 he won the Bermuda International Marathon. He has fond recollections of that time and running with Island residents, including Jim and Debbie Butterfield and former clubmate Peter Lever.

“I remember hiring a moped and seeing the Island,” he said.

“I’ve run in 100 countries, including Bermuda, and I’d like to do a few more. I’d like to see Bermuda again, but I’d probably only manage to run a 10K these days.”

He now trains 25 miles a week, usually three and a half miles each day. He is on target to pass a career total of 160,000 running miles at the end of the year.

“I love to go out in the morning, do my run and come back feeling better,” he said. “Running comes as second nature and I do it to stay healthy.

“I also tell people to keep training logs so they can see what works and what doesn’t, year after year.”