Robert Raven Kraft
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Robert "Raven" Kraft (1950- ) is a streak runner and country songwriter living in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A.
Raven has run on the sand of Miami Beach every single day since January 1, 1975. In the summer, Raven begins his daily eight-mile run shortly after 5:00 p.m.. In the winter, the run begins shortly after 4:00p.m. Every day, the run starts and ends at the 5th Street lifeguard stand. Raven alternates among four routes named "back-and-forth north," "back-and-forth south," "36th Street" and "47th Street." In addition to starting and ending at the same lifeguard stand on 5th Street, all four routes include at least one visit to the pier on the southern tip of South Beach. Raven follows his daily run with an approximately 1/3 mile swim in the Atlantic Ocean.
Every day, a different group of runners joins Raven for the run and to share stories about life in South Florida. Runners who run all eight miles on one of Raven's daily runs earn a nickname from Raven himself. Raven catalogues all such runners (more than 500 as of this writing) by number of runs, partial runs and swims completed. Currently, a runner nicknamed "Gringo" has completed the most eight-mile runs with Raven. Runners "Angry Man" and "Sailor" are not far behind.
Raven's 32+ year daily running streak has earned him local, national and international press coverage, including an article in Runner's World Magazine and a profile on the National Public Radio show Weekend Edition.
