National Black Marathoners Association Selects 2017 GO! St. Louis Marathon for Annual Summit

ST. LOUIS - Oct. 17, 2016 - PRLog -- The National Black Marathoners' Association (NBMA), a non-profit organization, will hold its Annual Summit and Hall of Fame Banquet during the 2017 GO! St. Louis Marathon Weekend, organizers announced today.

Hundreds of NBMA members from across the United States will travel to St. Louis to participate during the April 8, 2017 weekend.

"GO! St. Louis is honored to be selected as the host event for the 2017 NBMA Annual Summit," said GO! St. Louis President, Mona Langenberg.  "We look forward to welcoming NBMA members from across the country to St. Louis and to our weekend of fitness events."

The 13th NBMA Annual Summit will feature the National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame and Achievements Award Banquet. Thanks to this fund raising event, the NBMA has awarded more than $24,000 to deserving, college bound high school seniors. It honors lifetime runners, community service volunteers and prominent running clubs.

Previous honorees included Olympians and world class athletes, Ted Corbitt, Marilyn Bevans, Meb Keflezighi, Robin Campbell, and Jon Rankin, as well as running legends, such as Frederick Davis III, Angela Ivory, Francis Gilbert and Elzy Warren.

Some of the 2017 Black Distance Running Hall of Fame inductees include

Ella Willis
• Youngest person, male or female, to win the Detroit Free Press Marathon
• Held the woman's record for 30 years
• Had three of the top five fastest times at the Detroit Marathon
• Finished eleven sub-three hour marathons

Loretta Claiborne
• Honored in 1996 with ESPN's ESPY Arthur Ashe Award for Courage
• Her life is recounted in Walt Disney Production's The Loretta Claiborne Story
• Her biography, In Her Stride, was published by WorldScapes.
• In 1981, she was the first Special Olympics athlete to run the Boston Marathon - her time, 3:09.
• Her personal best time 3:03 in the 1982 Boston Marathon.

Isaiah Douglas
• Seventeen-time Boston Marathon finisher
• Longtime running coach


Cleveland, Ohio's Team Marathon Running Club

"The NBMA is very excited about returning to the St. Louis area and participating in the weekend activities. Our first Annual Summit was held in this area in 2005. Since St. Louis is my hometown, I'm looking forward to running this race again." says NBMA Executive Director Tony Reed.

The Hall of Fame and Achievement Awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 8 at 6:00PM at the Crowne Plaza – St. Louis Downtown at 200 North Fourth Street, Saint Louis, MO 63102. Seating is limited and this event has sold out every year. Tickets will be available beginning Monday, October 24 at www.BlackMarathoners.org.

About the GO! St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend

In its 17th year, the GO! St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend is Missouri's largest fitness weekend which consists of 11 events over two days including a marathon, half marathon, marathon relay, 7K run and 5K run.  GO! St. Louis is committed to providing running and walking opportunities for participants of all ages and abilities.  As a local nonprofit organization, GO! St. Louis provides the region with year-round fitness events, youth programs and community outreach.  For more information go to www.gostlouis.org.

About the National Black Marathoners' Association

The National Black Marathoners' Association (NBMA) is the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to encouraging Black Americans and others to pursue a healthy lifestyle through distance running and walking. It is open to everyone, regardless of his or her athletic ability or previous marathon experience.

The NBMA hosts an annual multi-race summit. Previous races and locations have been Lewis & Clark (St. Charles, MO), New Jersey (Long Branch, NJ), Cleveland (OH), Lost Dutchman (Apache Junction, AZ), Cowtown (Fort Worth, TX), Georgia (Atlanta), Bermuda International Race Weekend, Deadwood-Michelson (Deadwood, SD), Madison (WI), Richmond (VA), Windermere (Spokane, WA), Dallas, and Columbus Marathons. For more information, visitblackmarathoners.org (http://www.blackmarathoners.org/).