With each passing day, Miami Beach icon Robert “Raven” Kraft inches closer to a seemingly impossible feat. This living, breathing, human statue reminds us all that giving up is not an option. He’s seen every single sunset, boiling heat, and freezing rain. He’s even done 8 miles in a hurricane. Sickness, heartbreak, weather, and physical pain (which he states is about a 10/10 right now) have never stopped him from showing up every day. In 2020, when the streak was threatened, Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber gave Raven special permission as the only citizen allowed on South Beach to maintain the streak.
For those unfamiliar with the “Raven Run”, it started out the first day of 1975. Aspiring songwriter Raven has just had his heart broken when he heard a song he wrote on the radio, looked up the credits, and realized that the song was credited to someone else. With heartbreak and rage filling his soul, Raven needed an escape. A group of South Beach boxers suggested he try running.
Raven set a personal challenge to run 8 miles a day for the entire year of 1975. He hasn’t quit since. Since the run started, over 3,700 runners have joined him for the 8 miles, from all 50 states and over 100 countries. He has run through 8 different hurricanes. His daily post-run 3/10-mile swim in the Atlantic resulted in him saving 17 people from drowning.
Raven’s been featured in commercials for Nike and Burger King, as well as HBO’s Real Sports, and ESPN’s Outside the Lines. He’s been on the cover of Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine, even though he’s never been on a plane! Runner’s World, the premier running magazine in the world, has featured him a whopping 8 times. Their most recent Instagram post on him (November 10th, 2023) received 32,000 likes, 634 comments, and 3,600 shares! You could say Raven’s been a little lucky too on the run, as while running he has found over 2,100 dollars (mostly in coins).
Those who truly know Raven know what while many see him as a runner, he sees himself as a songwriter. He has written over 1,800 songs in his lifetime, a feat worthy of comparisons to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. In 2022, he formed a band, Raven and the Dark Shadows.
Since the band’s formation, they have released one album and four music videos. The album, An Unkindness, recently surpassed 100,000 streams on Spotify, and continues to grow each day. The band, comprised mostly of certified Raven runners, also features Dave Abruzzesse of Pearl Jam, Ian Grushka of New Found Glory, Keli Gudjonsson of Agent Fresco, and David Pastorious of Tech Nine. Vinyl editions of An Unkindness are currently in production via Jack White’s Third Man Pressing. In November of 2023, the band held a sold-out performance at FIU’s Wolfsonian museum, with over 120 guests in attendance.
