When Desmond Edmeade isn't taking care of his four children, he can usually be found between 7 and 8 a.m. biking or swimming at Magens Bay.
And after that, you can still find him at Magens: He has been a lifeguard for the last 10 years.
For most of his life, Edmeade has been a runner, but arthroscopic surgery on his knee in December has kept him off his running. But not for good, he says.
In the meantime, until it is safe for him to run again, Edmeade bikes or swims. His routine usually involves a bike out and back Peterborg peninsula at least as far as the radio tower (about five miles all told), followed by a swim.
"I've got to exercise," he said. "Once you feel that high, you've got to keep it going.
"When we exercise, it affects the mind and the spirit. They are not separate. I'd like to feel that way all the time."
As a youngster in St. Kitts, Edmeade played cricket and soccer. "Basically, I always liked running though," he said.
He still plays tennis. On his day off, Saturday, he gets together with a group at the University of the Virgin Islands tennis courts where "I'll hit with anybody," he said.
At 51, Edmeade cuts a handsome, fit figure of a gentleman, whose goal in life, he said, is to "be more at peace, to listen more to my inner self and to pass that on to people I come in contact with."
Before taking the position at Magens he worked as an orderly at the old Knud Hansen Hospital. He said there was an opening, and is evident, "I like helping people."
During the summer when his children — Shereka, 17, Kayalyn, 9, Johanan, 5, and 4-year-old Jendayi — are home from school, you can often find them at the beach with their dad, swimming with masks and snorkels.
His pride in his children is obvious when he speaks about parenting and his hopes and dreams for them.
"I always tell them, 'Whatever you do, give it your best. I might not like your choices, but I'm here for you.'"
His other goals? "To see my kids grow up and go to good schools," he said.
And to run again.
