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Property Profile A mile in his shoes - Ray Wicksell

'I loved every minute of my athletic life,' says Ray Wicksell. 'I was sponsored by Nike and was literally paid to run. Having to stay in the top 10 in America meant lots of pressure though – but I love pressure and I love competition.'

Ray was born in Southern California, started running at eight years old and by high school was the third fastest miler in the United States. That's when he met Phil Knight, founder of Nike. 'I learned an unbelievable amount from Phil and wanted to get involved with Nike from a young age.'

Ray attended Arizona State University on a full athletics scholarship, but with his talents he had the choice of any varsity in America. 'I loved the hot and dry climate of Arizona which I used as a base while running around the world.' He ran against the likes of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett.

Ray went to the Olympic trials in 1980 but United States President Jimmy Carter boycotted the Moscow Games (along with several other countries). He tried again in 1984 at Los Angeles and just missed making the team. With all the stamina required of a miler, he tried once more in 1988 at Seoul. 'I was a bit older by then

and I missed the cut again.' There's still some regret, but for Ray life is full of all sorts of finish lines.

His greatest sporting moment was breaking the elusive four-minute mile. 'I did it in 1979 at Stanford University at the Martin Luther King Games. I ran 3:59:77 which not only broke four minutes but won the race too. With that psychological barrier gone I went on to break it 24 times.'

Ray still runs 8km every day: 'But now I run so I can eat!'

Ray first visited South Africa as part of a US team in 1988. Wanting to keep politics and sport apart, he came despite the turmoil of the times, and met Ilze de Kock, then the country's record holder over 800m and 1 000m, who was in charge of the US team while it was in the country. 'She could hardly speak a word of English,' says Ray. 'But she had such a kind heart.'

He fell in love with Ilze, the country and the weather. After selling his car and condominium back in the US, and being told he was crazy, he returned to Pretoria and married within the year. Both of his daughters are athletes with his eldest daughter the fastest over 400m in her age group in the country. Genes will out.

A part-time Supersport presenter for 10 years, Ray also became a motivational consultant and marketing trainer.

Then in 1994 Nike officially re-launched in South Africa and Phil Knight asked him to be marketing director. 'I had come full circle from running in their shoes as a kid to selling the hell out of them as an adult.'

He was with Nike for three years but then needed another challenge. Head-hunted by a friend he moved to a large pharmaceutical company helping develop their brands. Then he changed lanes back to marketing and motivation full time.

'Marketing is about developing relationships and needs work and time. Nike is a strong brand due to its staff being well-treated and respected. Company image is often reflected in the way staff are treated.'

True to American workplace sensibilities, Ray has no personal assistant and returns every call personally within 24 hours. 'People actually thank me for calling them back! When I don't get calls returned I phone people and say: "Were you hijacked? I've left four messages!" and they're really shocked.'

During his consultancy work Ray met Andrew Golding of Pam Golding Properties and they 'instantly gelled'. 'I worked there for five months and did training with Ronald Ennik who was quite brilliant. I learned a lot from him.'

But by then Accretio Property Developments had managed to catch up with him.

Ray and Sales Director André Wiese (once a professional golfer) have been busy rolling out the massive Lizard Point development at the Vaal Dam for the past year (it's a 10-year project), but golf estates in Muldersdrift and a 400ha beachfront golf resort in Mozambique are just a few others on the Accretio books.

'I love property. I get to meet so many interesting people who are all so positive and busy developing this country. Trust me, none of them are leaving it!'

Surprisingly for such a natural athlete involved with so many golfing estates, Ray had never hit a golf ball until the launch of Lizard Point. 'Nike has sent me a golf set to play with – the top of the range like Tiger Woods uses. It's still in the plastic! Really, I'd rather drive the cart and join everyone for a beer afterwards.'