achievement equation

PO BOX 180912
DALLAS, TX 75218-0912

 

June 23, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Black Runner Finishes Seven Marathons on Seven Continents

DALLAS (July 19, 2007) – Tony Reed, the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the National Black Marathoners’ Association (NBMA) and public speaker, has become the first Black runner to finish a marathon on all seven continents. Only about 200 people in the world have accomplished this goal. This was announced by Thom Gilligan, founder of Marathon Tours and Travel and its Seven Continents Club, a travel club for runners that offers special recognition for members who have completed seven marathons or seven half marathons on all seven continents.

The Dallas-area runner has completed eighty-seven 26.2-mile marathons, since 1982. This includes jaunts in locales as far away as the exotic Great Wall of China, as icy as Antarctica and as precarious as an African game park. Reed wrapped up his seven continents goal on June 23, 2007 at Kenya ’s Safaricom Lewa Marathon.

His international finishes include: marathons in 25 States; Tailwinds Marathon (Copenhagen, Denmark); Gold Coast Marathon (Australia); Great Wall of China Marathon; Antarctic Marathon; Fin Del Mundo Marathon (Ushuaia, Argentina) and the Safaricom Lewa Marathon (Kenya).

Reed grew up in the St. Louis inner city. In 2004, he co-founded the not-for-profit, National Black Marathoners’ Association (NBMA) along with Charlotte Simmons-Foster of Atlanta . The organization’s missions are to

  • Encourage Black Americans and others to pursue a healthy life-style through long distance running and walking.

  • Serve as a vehicle for Black American distance runners across the nation to meet in mass at a single marathon.

  • Provide college scholarships to deserving high school boy and girl distance runners.

 "I was diagnosed with increased glucose levels but have been able to avoid full-blown diabetes by maintaining a healthy diet and by exercising," said Reed, who has a family history of the disease.

"I also want to be an example and inspire others to set and reach goals," said Reed, a national speaker, an IT project management consultant, and CPA. The former adjunct professor holds two masters and two bachelors degrees. The NBMA estimates that African Americans only make up one to two percent of all US marathoners.

In a Runner's World article, he wrote, "Who have imagined that a Black, non-athletic, inner city kid from St. Louis would have run 87 marathons in 25 States and seven continents, including Antarctica ?" Reflecting on the final jewel in his seven continents quest, he went on to say, "The Safaricom Marathon was the first race I have ever been in where I did not feel like a minority."

For more information on Tony Reed, CPA, please visit www.AchievementEquation.com or call (214) 257-0469. For more information on the NBMA, please visit www.BlackMarathoners.org.