National Black Marathoners Association Makes History with the First, Award-Winning Documentary about US-Born, African American Women Marathoners, Who Are National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame Inductees

DALLAS - Jan. 18, 2023 - PRLog -- The National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA) is pleased to announce the Prime Video release of the award-winning documentary Breaking Three Hours: Trailblazing African American Women Marathoners.

Since 1975, over 14 million people completed marathons in the US. About 280,000 finished in under three hours. Fewer than twenty of these sub-three-hour runners were US-born, African American women. Breaking Three Hours is a 2022 feature length documentary about nine of these women, who are National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame inductees.

Marilyn Bevans was the first to break three hours at the 1975 Boston Marathon. The other interviewees are Alisa Harvey, Ella Willis-Glaze, Ingrid Walters, Michele Bush-Cuke, Michele Tiff-Hill, Samia Akbar, Shawanna White, and Sika Henry. Their backgrounds range from being a professional musician and an actress to educators and healthcare professionals. They discuss their personal and professional lives, racism, sexism, religion, body shaming, and work-life balance. Alisa Harvey is still competing and won the 2022 Richmond Marathon's 55 to 59 age group. She's held a combined six world and/or national, indoor and outdoor records in three different age groups in distances ranging from the 800M to 1500M. Sika Henry still competes as the first African American female professional triathlete and recently broke three hours at the 2023 Houston Marathon.

The producer, director, and writer, Anthony R. Reed, is a two-time national distance running hall of fame inductee, world history making marathoner, author, CEO of the Caribbean Endurance Sports Corporation, and the NBMA's co-founder and executive director.

The documentary, music video, and two related shorts received eleven awards at fourteen film festivals.

• Seattle Film Festival – Winners for Best Sports Documentary Feature Film and Best Original Song for a Feature Film
• The NewsFest True Stories Intl. Film and Writers' Festival – Winners for Best Music, Best News Story/Public Information, and Best Short Documentary Under Thirteen Minutes
• New York Intl. Film Awards – Winner for Best Biographical Film
• Oniros Film Awards® (New York) – Winners for Best Sport Film and Best Documentary Feature and Finalist for Best Song
• WRPN Women's Intl. Film Festival - Exceptional Merit Award
• Boden Intl. Film Festival (Sweden) - Semi-Finalist for Best First Time Documentary Film
• New York Independent Cinema Awards - Award Nominee