One of the most recognisable faces of the Bermuda Marathon Weekend during the past 33 years is set to create his own piece of personal history when he competes in the annual marathon for the 30th time.

You would be hard pushed to find a runner who competes in more marathons on a regular basis than former Island resident Ronnie Wong. Sunday’s race will not only be a milestone Bermuda Marathon moment, it will also be the 280th marathon of Wong’s running career.

At 67, the former chef at the old Castle Harbour Hotel sees no reason to curtail his favourite sporting pastime. Last year he completed 13 marathons and three ultra-distance races, one of which was the famous 56-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

In 92F heat, Wong completed the gruelling race in 10 hours and 47 minutes. He also met up with Bermuda’s Cal Steede who was competing in the race and staying at the same hotel.

On some occasions he has run marathons back-to-back over consecutive weekends. After arriving on the Island yesterday, Wong said: “I hope I can break four hours for the marathon. I will be running the [Bermuda Triangle] Challenge.”

The Challenge involves completing a mile on Front Street tomorrow, the 10K race on Saturday and then either the half-marathon or marathon on Sunday.

Wong’s list of finishing times in the Bermuda Marathon makes impressive reading. His fastest was in 1987 when he came eighth overall in 2:49:25, while his slowest was 3:51:39 in 2010.

He looks after himself, eating carbohydrates such as wheat, rice, and pasta every day, and after races he makes sure he walks around a lot so that his muscles do not tighten up. When he lived and worked in Bermuda in the 1970s and early 1980s, Wong was regularly seen training around Harrington Sound. He has maintained his friendship with many Island runners and stays with long-time friend and fellow runner Joe Lopes and his family when he comes to Bermuda.

There are still a few goals ahead for Wong, who lives in the United States. He is currently trying to complete a marathon in all 50 states. His tally stands at 40. Among the states he has yet to do a marathon in are Montana, Wyoming and Oregon.

He is now a member of the ‘300 Marathon Club’, which consists of runners who have completed 300 races of marathon distance or longer. He has completed 23 ultra-distance events, including the JFK 50 in Maryland last November. Despite falling a few times during the 50-miler, part of which is run on the Appalachain Trail, he won his age group in eight hours and 50 minutes.

Asked what sort of shape he is on ahead of this weekend’s races, Wong pointed to his most recent marathon, a race in Texas on New Year’s Day when he was 38th overall in 3:54.

“It was four laps of 10K on a solid concrete circuit. Even the winner only managed three hours,” he said.

Wong says he will keep on running as long as his legs will carry him. He will be wearing race bib number 1830 this weekend.

The 39th Bermuda Marathon Weekend starts tomorrow with various mile races on Front Street from 6.30pm onwards, culminating in the KPMG Invitational Front Street Mile elite races. On Saturday the HSBC Bermuda 10K starts at 9am outside the National Sports Centre, Devonshire, while on Sunday the HSBC Bermuda Marathon and Half-Marathon will start from Front Street at 8am on Sunday.