Episode 159: Anthony “Tony” Reed, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the National Black Marathoners Association

After watching the documentary, Breaking Three Hours:  Trailblazing African-American Women Marathoners, we were thrilled to welcome the creator, Tony Reed, who is the founder of the National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA).  The NBMA is the country's oldest and largest, not-for-profit organization of Black American distance runners.  The objectives are to encourage Black Americans and others to pursue a healthy life-style through long distance running and walking and serve as a vehicle for Black American distance runners across the nation to meet in mass at a single marathon. Tony shares why he wrote and directed the award-winning documentary, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime.  Unbelievably, at the time of the creation of the documentary in 2022, only nine African American women had broken three hours in the marathon.  The documentary shares the stories of these incredible trailblazing women:   1. Marilyn Bevans (1975 at Boston (2:55:52) 1979 Boston Marathon (2:49:56) 2. Ella Willis-Glaze 1981 Detroit Free Press Marathon (2:59:29) 1989 Detroit Free Press Marathon (2:38:22) 3. Michele Bush-Cuke 1981 Avon Marathon (2:39:07) 1991 CA International Marathon (2:37:41) 4. Michele Tiff-Hill 1980 Fiesta Bowl Marathon (2:57:14) 1983 Sri Chinmoy Marathon (2:50:19) 5. Ingrid Eugenia Walters 2014 Chicago Marathon (2:54:58) 2019 Los Angeles Marathon (2:48:03) 6. Alisa Harvey 1999 Richmond Marathon (2:49:28) 7. Samia Akbar 2006 New York City Marathon (2:34:14) 8. Sika Henry 2020 Tidewater Striders Marathon (2:57:13) 9. Shawanna White 2011 Kiawah Island Marathon (2:55:30) 2018 One City Marathon (2:45:19) In addition to discussing the documentary, Tony shares more about his own record-setting accomplishments, why representation is so important, and how the running community can better support African American marathoners to ensure more than a handful of women break three hours and beyond in the marathon. Tony can be found on instagram at www.instagram.com/tonyreedcpa.  Follow him and the NBMA at www.instagram.com/blackmarathoners.  Check out Breaking Three on Prime Video!