TWO remarkable runners who visit Bermuda at least once a year to race in Bermuda International Race Weekend were given appreciative applause at this year's award ceremony on account of their links to the island's racing scene since the late 1970s.

Neither Sid Howard nor Ronnie Wong live in Bermuda, although Wong did in the late 1970s before he moved to Baltimore in 1982.

But the pair, who are now in their 60s, have been making an annual pilgrimage to Race Weekend for the past 30 years and as a result are now considered honorary Bermudians.

American Howard was even given the right to wear an official number at last year's May 24 Half-Marathon Derby having run as a 'ringer' during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

At the awards ceremony two weeks ago Howard, now 69, was presented with a special plaque to mark his 29 years of racing at the three-day running festival.

Wong was also applauded for holding a similar standing in the hearts of Bermudians who participate or spectate at road race events. He did not go away empty handed either as he scooped the age category prize for his marathon effort having run three hours 44 minutes.

A former chef at the old Castle Harbour Hotel, Wong now has celebrity status on the road racing circuit in and around Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia where he currently rules the roost in the 60-64 age category.

The 61-year-old chalked up a remarkable 16 full marathons in 2007. He ran a total of 69 road races at all distances during the year.

Running marathons back-to-back on consecutive weekends takes on a whole new dimension when you listen to Wong's list of recent achievements. During November last year he ran five marathons during each weekend that month and then added one more for good measure in the first week of December after flying out to Singapore.

And these weren't "jog along" efforts. Here are the results; Marine Corp Marathon (3:19:38), Richmond Marathon (3:16:01), Northern Central Trail Marathon (3:23:27), New York Marathon (3:23:27), Philadelphia Marathon (3:16:15) and Singapore Marathon (3:43).

In case you're wondering, the Singapore race was notably slower after Wong fell into a ditch by the road after trying to take a toilet break in some bushes. He still has the cuts and scars to show. Remarkably, after being pulled out of the ditch he resumed the race determined to reach the finish.

It is that sort of dedication, and love of simply running, that gets Wong outside almost every day of the year for a training run. Only the worst of weather conditions will dissuade him.

At some point this year he will achieve his 200th marathon. This year's Bermuda International Marathon was number 193.

So what is the secret of all that energy?

"You have to eat lots of carbohydrates ¿ whole wheat, rice, pasta, every day," says Wong. It might sound like a recipe for putting on weight, but Wong is proof that isn't necessarily the case. He weighs around 115 pounds and can get away with running a marathon in the lightest of running shoes.

But how can he do so much running and racing with practically no time to recover?

"After a race I walk around a lot and don't let my muscles tighten up. If you lay down it would be terrible."

He is of Chinese decent, and that has made him an instantly recognisable figure for many Bermudians who have seen him return time-and-again to these shores to compete.

"It is because you don't see many Chinese runners. When I was running with another runner from overseas he said to me that everyone on the island seemed to know my name," said Wong.

"When I lived here I used to train around Harrington Sound and the taxi drivers all got to know me by sight."

He has run almost every International Race Weekend since 1981, and has a best of 2:49:25 from 1987.

Wong intends to keep on running, and racing, for as long as he can. He has a race tally of more than 1,000 and is a member of the "50 Plus Club" in the US for racers who can prove they run 50 or more identifiable races each year.

Wong, who stays with long-time friend and fellow runner Joe Lopes and his family when on the island, said: "I enjoy running the marathon and I will carry on running until my legs will no longer allow me."