The Californer - Historic Groundbreaking Documentary About Women Marathoners Released for Women's History Month

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Breaking Three Hours Film Festival Poster

National Black Marathoners Association Releases Thirteen-Time Award-Winning Documentary about US-Born, African American Women Marathoners on Major Streaming Platforms, Including Roku TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV

NEW YORK - Californer -- The National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA) announces the release of the award-winning documentary Breaking Three Hours: Trailblazing African American Women Marathoners for Women's History Month on Roku TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, and other streaming platforms.

Since 1975, over fourteen million people completed marathons in the US. About 280,000 finished in under three hours. In 2020, 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 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.

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Dallas resident, producer, director, and writer, Anthony R. Reed, is a two-time national distance running hall of fame inductee, author, CEO of the Caribbean Endurance Sports Corporation, and the NBMA's co-founder and executive director. He's also a Black history maker. On June 23, 2007, he became the first Black in the world to finish marathons on all seven continents. He's also one of three Blacks in the world to complete the marathon hat trick of finishing (1) at least one hundred marathons and a marathon (2) in all fifty states and (3) seven continents.

The documentary sponsors were the Boston Athletic Association (Boston Marathon), the New York Road Runner Club (the TCS New York City Marathon), the 26.2 Foundation, the Road Runners Club of America, and the Caribbean Endurance Sports Corporation (the Five-Island Challenge Series).

To learn more about Breaking Three Hours: Trailblazing African American Women Marathoners visit www.BreakingThreeHours.com. To learn more about the National Black Marathoners Association visit www.BlackMarathoners.org.

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