The Raven - a living legend you need on your ''to do list''

Met this guy 2 years ago whilst on holiday in South Beach Miami. As many of you know I am ''a triathlete who doesn't run'' but had to grab the chance when it came up! As normal he runs every day from the 5th street lifeguard tower on South beach Miami and does his 8 miles on one of four routes, followed by a third of a mile cool off swim. Needless to say he is more than a bit OCD and records the name of everyone who completes the 8 mile with him and gives them a nickname and a number. I am ''mushy peas'' ( it's a Yorkshire thing he came up with when he found out I was a vegeterian) number 1177.

So that's EVERY DAY SINCE 1975,   he is very personable and told some great stories as about 20 of us with me and another virgin runner jogged through the heat like a presidential security detail ( I believe he has run with a president amongst just about every other famous person in Florida).  Every now and then someone would look up and wave and shout out '' go Raven'' or like one drunk dude '' look it's that blackbird guy'' .

So next time training gets a little tough and you want to jack it in... be thankful that you can , that you don't have to be at the lifeguard tower at 5 to meet up with the few or the many, that you can leave town for the day , that you can go on holiday, or get arrested and not have to make bail for 4 30pm ( another true story), that you can be sick or injured and have the time to recover properly!

Get over there if you are anywhere near Miami in the early afternoon of any day of any month (4pm in the winter) of any year, when NIKE coined their phrase they were looking at Robert THE RAVEN Kraft....  www. the raven.net