One of the most famous Bermuda Marathon Weekend winners is still going strong, 37 years after his moment of glory on the Island.

Ron Hill, a former Commonwealth Games and European Championships marathon gold medallist, showed his class as he battled to victory in the 1978 marathon, where he overcome strong winds and the talented Greek runner Kirkiados Lazardies to claim the title in 2hr 26min 13sec.

The Englishman, now 76, made headlines last month 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 Hill as the holder of the longest “running streak” in the world.

Hill, who lives near Manchester, England, has happy memories of his time in Bermuda, and remembers running with Island residents, including Jim and Debbie Butterfield (who coincidently won the Bermuda women’s marathon in 1978), Ray Swan and former clubmate Peter Lever. “I remember hiring a moped and seeing the Island,” he said.

Last January, Hill attended the funeral of Andy Holden. Holden, 65, won the Bermuda marathon in 1979, 1980 and 1981, setting an unbroken event record of 2:15:20 in 1980.

“Andy was a good friend,” said Hill.

It was in 1970 that Hill hit his peak. He had set a number of long distance UK national and world records. Then he won the Boston Marathon in a course record of 2:10:30, and a few months later ran his best time of 2:09:28 to win the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. They were gutsy performances, as Hill points out: “Back then there was no such thing as pacemakers.”

Today he continues to run daily, usually for three-and-a-half miles. He does occasional 5K and 10K races. But races are not the priority they once were.

“I’m running to stay healthy. I go out in the morning and I feel better afterwards.”

However, he hopes to add a few more countries and races to his formidable tally. 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.”