DANVILLE - Steve Guess does not think of himself as an athlete.

"Never was," he said.

But for a guy who's not an athlete, Guess is pretty active. In January, he learned to swim. This spring, he's done four small triathlons and a duathlon, which is only running and bicycling. On weekends, he trains with friends, biking and running.

On Sunday, he will be taking part in the Rodney T. Miller Memorial Lakeside Triathlon, and he's going to do all three legs - bicycle, run and swim - by himself.

On Guess' calf is a visible reminder of his inspiration: a tattoo of the shield and rose that make up the symbol of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., combined with the triathlon's logo and the letters "RTM" for his fallen friend.

Miller and Guess, both Illinois State Police officers, were close buddies before Miller's death in May 2006 in a car accident. Guess is a narcotics officer in Danville.

Miller, a detective with the Illinois State Police office in Champaign, had pulled an all-nighter working a case. He'd only had about two hours of sleep before he had to go back in to work and put in a full shift, his wife said. On the way home that night, he was in a collision at a rural intersection near Bondville. He was 40.

"I really did not realize he was a big swimmer and did triathlons while he was alive," Guess said. "After he died, when his wife, Karla, started the memorial triathlon, I got a couple of friends of mine, state police people who were also friends with Rodney, we got a team together and I did the bike portion, another friend did the swim and another did the run."

Karla Miller said her husband had run a triathlon in Sullivan only two weeks before his death and often remarked that he couldn't believe a city the size of Decatur didn't have its own triathlon. So it made perfect sense to her that a triathlon was a fitting memorial to him.

She contacted Denene Wilmeth at the Decatur Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Wilmeth sent her to Lori Kerans, a coach at Millikin University who also was a friend of Rodney Miller's. The proceeds from the first triathlon in 2007 benefited youth sports programs. Last year, the money sponsored a baseball team, helped with Maroa-Forsyth's new track, added to the coffers of the School for Therapeutic and Recreational Riding on Mount Zion Road and bought new basketball uniforms for French Academy.

Guess, 47, credits Rodney Miller's example for spurring him to get into shape, though he wishes the circumstances were different.

"I'm getting older, fatter and lazier," Guess said. "Because Karla did this whole memorial thing for Rodney, I used his death as motivation and inspiration to get busy and get healthier as a tribute to him and to help myself, to improve my longevity with my family and kids."

While training, Guess said, if he gets tired or feels like quitting, he looks down at that tattoo, and it gives him the grit to keep going.

"Rodney would have been so happy that he was able to inspire someone to do something he never thought he could do," Karla Miller said. "I think he would be very pleased if he knew how many people he's inspired to get into shape."

The Millers' two sons, Daley, 13, and Zach, 11, will participate in the junior event Saturday, wearing the numbers 1 and 2.

"It's a nice thing for them," Karla Miller said. "It lets people know while they're racing that those are Rodney's boys."

Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells@herald-review.com or 421-7982.

If you go:

WHAT: The Rodney T. Miller Lakeside Triathlon

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, July 5-6. Junior event, 9 a.m. Saturday at Fairview Park pool; adult event, 8 a.m. Sunday, Nelson Park boathouse

To enter, call Teri Hammel, 423-7000