Congratulation to the Saucony + Black Men Run | Runner Of The Month for June, Mr. Tahir Bradley from BMR South Jersey. Thank you to Tahir and his story can be read below:
“I started running cross country in my freshman year in high school. At the time I could barely run a mile but I decided it would be fun. By the end of my freshman year I made the varsity team and was running a sub 5 minute mile. I went to a school in the city of Newark NJ that didn’t even have its’s own track . We ran intervals in the local Y for training. When I was finished high school our track team from the inner city with no track won a couple of state sectional championships. Two indoor state championships and two outdoor state championships. I went on to run in college and did well in the 800meters and the 1500 meters. After college life hit me. I moved to Boston for a couple years for work and then moved back to NJ where I started a family. I was running off and on for about 10 years but nothing serious.
Fast forward to 2012 I decided to run the Marine Corp Marathon. I trained for this mostly on my own and that was hard. I had a hard time running the race and about 20 miles in I was physically and mentally broken down when another brother tap me on my shoulder and said lets go and he never left my side until we finished. This was my first encounter with the brotherhood. Six months after that I was invited to my first BMR unity run in Cooper River Park in August 2013 where I met Michael Stinson and the BMR crew. I ended up joining the BMR Philly chapter where Mike was the captain. From this point my training and health has changed. I have gone from weighing as much as 230 pounds down to 179 currently. I went from running 300 miles a year to average 1200 miles a year. BMR has provided me with new friendships and has helped me change my diet and how I train. I love running and I love this running group. BMR for life”