National Black Marathoners Association Awards $6,000 in College Scholarships

DALLAS - June 3, 2015 - PRLog -- Thanks to "Run a Mile, Save a Mind" fund raising drive, the National Black Marathoners Association awarded $6,000 in scholarships to four students. Three $1,500 scholarships were awarded to graduating high school seniors.

- Kenya Overton, a cross country and track runner from Piscataway, NJ, has been accepted to Morehouse College and Temple University.

- Joshua Mitchell, a cross country and track runner from Durham, NC, has been accepted at North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

- Matthew Couret has been accepted at Dallas’ El Centro College. Matthew went the “non-traditional route” to qualify for the scholarship. His alternative high school, Cornerstone Crossroads Academy, didn’t offer any athletic programs. However, he was impressed that one of his teachers, Monisha Randolph, was a marathoner and a RRCA certified running coach. Monisha, a long time NBMA member, is the owner of Runner’s Revelation. He asked her to train him for a marathon. She not only inspired and trained Matthew, but another student AND the school’s principal joined the training program. They completed the 2014 Austin Marathon. He became the first student to qualify for our scholarship by running a marathon.

Also, for the first time, the NBMA awarded a $1,500 scholarship to a sophomore, Kayla Keys, at Hampton University. She received our 2014/2015 NBMA scholarship and had an outstanding freshman year.

About the National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA):
The National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA) is the nation's largest, not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging Black Americans and others to pursue a healthy lifestyle through long distance running and walking. It is open to everyone, regardless of athletic ability or previous running experience. The NBMA's 2015 USA Summit will be at the Dallas Marathon during the December 12 weekend.

The NBMA awards multiple scholarships annually to college-bound high school seniors, who have competed on the high school cross country team, in a distance event (1500 meters or greater) on the high school track team, or completed a full, certified 26.2-mile marathon.   Our goal is to encourage Black youth to pursue distance running, to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to achieve academic excellence.  The NBMA has awarded more than $19,000 in scholarships to college-bound, high school seniors. For more information visit www.blackmarathoners.org.