Most amateur athletes who took part in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were finally able to relax last night, no doubt relieved that, with medals in hand and muscles aching, the months of rigorous training sessions and strict diets were finally over.

But for a trio of Japanese seniors, the weekend’s festival of running was just one small step in a much bigger marathon that is taking them around the globe.

For Shinichi Takahashi, Yasushi Kokubu and Shiei Kawakami have completed more than 450 marathons between them — and will be putting even more miles under their belts in the coming weeks.

Mr Takahashi, the youngster of the group at 65 who has taken part in 128 marathons including 98 races outside his native Japan, runs a travel company that organises vacations for runners who can’t resist pounding the tarmac even when on holiday.

His Running To The Ends Of The World firm has taken runners to Africa, South America, the Middle East and even Antarctica to compete in races — and can now add Bermuda to its list.

Mr Takahashi normally completes 12 marathons a year. But that seems like just a walk in the park compared to the athletic achievements of Mr Kokubu, who has run 328 regular marathons, averaging about three each month. The 69-year-old has also completed 184 ultra marathons of 100km. The third member of the party, Mr Kawakami, 66, is a marathon novice.

The team arrived in Bermuda on Thursday and were in action throughout the weekend. They fly out to Miami this morning before heading to Trinidad and Tobago to take part in another marathon this Sunday — just seven days after their efforts in Bermuda.

“I wanted to come to Bermuda about two years ago, but we weren’t able to make it, ” Mr Takahashi said. “So when I arranged the trip for the Trinidad race, I remembered Bermuda and realised that we could visit here before going on to Trinidad.”

And apart from the weather, the Island didn’t disappoint. The visitors were able to breeze through their events, helped in part by the glorious scenery.

“Bermuda is a beautiful island — a really good place to take photographs,” Mr Takahashi said.