Category Archives: News

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”

On behalf of Black Men Run and Saucony we would like to congratulate Luther Isaac on being the first Black Men Run + Saucony “Runner of the Month” for May 2017. Luther is out of our Black Men Run WASHINGTON, D.C. chapter and his story is told below:

Back in the late 60’s I tried out for my high school track team. After a few practices and drills my coach came to me and said he was going to start a cross country team and I would be a perfect fit. During that time very few high schools in Washington, DC had cross country teams. I told the coach I wanted to run the 100 or 200. He told me I was not built for sprinting, but would excel in distance. I quit the team, and did not run again for about ten years.

I was a young Marine home on leave when a friend mentioned he had been training for months for a marathon he was running the next day. I told him I would run it with him. We ran, I did really well and enjoyed the experience of distance running. Soon thereafter I started running distances. Later I started entering into races and running for the joy of running.

When I joined BMR DC in 2015 the love of running really kicked in. I really did not know how I was going to fit in because I was 10 to 40 years their senior. In the end, it didn’t matter because BMR has a Mission Statement that I had been yearning for, for more 40 years and I am finally experiencing the camaraderie of other Africa American men that’s promoting a culture of running/jogging to stay fit resulting in ” A Healthy Brotherhood” which I am finding to be a wonderful life experience. #blackmenrun

We are excited to announce our partnership with Saucony as the official shoe of Black Men Run. This partnership will allow Black Men Run to spread its message of “A Healthy Brotherhood” to the world working with Saucony leveraging their global reach and technologically superior running products. This is the first time that an African American all-male running group has ever created a partnership of this type with a shoe company and more details will be coming soon so stay tuned.

In the meantime, we invite everyone to sign up to become a Saucony Product tester. It only takes a few moments to register and when completing the form the last question on the signup page asks, “Is there anything else you would like to share about your running habits and the shoes you wear?” please write “Black Men Run” in that field so that the BMR runners can be easily identified.
Product Testing Link –  http://www.saucony.com/en/producttesting

This photo was taken at the Rock N Roll race in Phoenix on January 14th, 2017 and has since been viewed over a million times through social media and on broadcast television all over the world. The original photo was posted on the Black Men Run Facebook fan page and the back story can be found here:

“This is John Wilkie. He is 73 years old. He had a bad fall shortly before the 13 mile marker at the race yesterday. This support and I were able to pick him up and walk him across the finish line, so I could get him to the medal staff. He had a big gash in his head that required stitches, but he was in good spirit. Once they got the bleeding under control, I got his Finisher’s Medal and stayed with him until they said they had it from that point.” – Nathanael Dillard #blackmenrun#nomanleftbehind #ahealthybrotherhood