"I don't know how big Bermuda is, or how high its mountains are," said the race Transalpine Race announcer as he saw the four Bermuda athletes approaching the finish line at the end of eight consecutive days of running across the Alpine peaks from Germany, through Austria to Italy.

One of the four, Lindo's boss Giorgio Zanol, took the microphone and informed the crowd that Bermuda is 20 miles long and the highest hill is only 40 metres.

That put into dramatic perspective what Giorgio, his son Marco, Judith Marsden and Ian Coles had achieved by traversing a gruelling mountain route of 185 miles, with a total of 15,000 metres uphill running ¿ that's almost two Mount Everests ¿ in under 60 hours.

Described by some as Europe's toughest running race, the challenge pushed the four Bermuda runners to the extreme edge of their abilities.

The Gore-Tex Transalpine Race takes runners across the roof of Europe, often times higher than the clouds and at altitudes that give a bird's eye view of glaciers and mountain valleys far below.

Each athlete was required to carry their own kit bag of essentials such as first aid, gloves, beanie hat, leggings and waterproof jacket to equip them against sudden changes in weather conditions likely in the high mountains. There was also a requirement to meet strict time checks at various points on the course ¿ failure meant having to retire for that day and losing the chance to get one of the coveted 'finisher' T-shirts, even if the runner successfully completed the remainder of the ultra-distance off-road event.

For Giorgio it was a return to his homeland of Italy and the mountains that he loves. He paired up with Ian Coles as the two-man 'Bermuda Onions' team, while Marco and Judith ran together as 'Team Twisted Anatomy'. The two teams took 58 hours and 56 hours respectively to complete the eight-day challenge. The fastest of the international teams took just 28.5 hours.

The night before the start of the race all the competitors attended a pasta party at which the national flags of the 27 or so nationalities represented were flown. The Bermuda contingent was amazed and proud to see a full size Bermuda flag paraded by local children alongside those of Argentina, Chile and other major nations.

Giorgio and Marco both found the second day ¿ which featured five different mountain peaks spread over 31 miles and run in 85 degree heat ¿ the toughest of the eight. Giorgio made the last checkpoint that day with only a minute and a half to spare to avoid the cut-off; around 30 teams had one of their runners miss the time markers on day two.

Giorgio said: "After the second day I thought 'two out of eight ¿ how am I going to make it?' We were going to bed tired and waking up at 4.45 a.m. or 5 a.m. to have breakfast and make the 7 a.m. start.

"After four days I though 'four out of eight, I might make it'. I started to get stronger ¿ maybe it was the acclimatisation. Every day as we all lined up at the start the runners would all be singing 'Highway to Hell' (the AC/DC hit song)."

Reflecting on the toughness of the event, Giorgio, who at 67 was the oldest in the field, said: "It was a physical strain and a mental strain, but once you were up on top of the mountains you could stop for a moment and see all this beauty ¿ the lakes, the pristine land and waterfalls after waterfalls.

"I'm glad I did it because we got to see things that you would not see unless you had a helicopter."

Marco found the downhills the hardest thing to cope with because of the strain placed on leg muscles not usually pushed to such extremes.

He said: "My quads were aching from the downhills and you had achilles aches and then at the end of the day you wondered about what would happen the next day and whether your body would make it. Added to that was the tight time constraints."

Amongst those taking part were highly experienced ultra-distance runners who had done such tough events as the Marathon de Sable through the Sahara desert and mountain races. There was even a woman who had climbed Mount Everest. Almost universally they expressed the opinion that the Transalpine Race was the toughest challenge they had come across.

Ian Coles said: "The toughness of the climbs made it very difficult. You went for hours and hours uphill, then the downhills, which I found difficult. And they were so strict with the cut-off times.'

But he was glad he did it: "Going over some of the mountain passes we were above the clouds and the glaciers and close to 10,000ft (3,300m) up. The scenery was spectacular."

For Giorgio, a return to mountain racing in Italy is on the cards next year. He is proud to have been amongst those who completed the Transalpine Race to be awarded a finishers T-shirt, as only those who complete the event and meet all the time check points get such a shirt ¿ the ones not awarded are destroyed to maintain the value of those genuinely earned.

Giorgio, who did this year's race to raise money for charity, intends to do another transalpine race in 2009, although that one heads in the opposite direction and is about 60K shorter in length.