by Fago Franklin
Coming off a dominate year, tennis sensation Serena Williams had decided to run a 5k marathon to help sponsor her foundation. The Serena Williams Fund provides assistants to families that have been affected by violent crimes and funds education for those who are unfortunate.
The marathon had over 2,000 participants that was supporting the cause. Even Serena’s little sister Venus Williams was supporting the cause. Serena had finished the marathon in an hour and 14 minutes and she had expressed what this event meant to her.
“Today’s run was so enjoyable and the spirit of everyone who came out was so passionate which helped me to build the energy I needed for my first quarter marathon. I’ve never ran that far before, so I had to pace myself, but I was pleased with my finish time. I’d like to thank all the sponsors and everyone who participated in the run to help raise money for underprivileged youth around the world.”
There were records that were broken from the winning male and female who had crossed the finish line first. This was the first time each of the records were broke in two decades. Pablo Solares was the 1st place male winner of the 5K with an official time of 14:40. This was a new record shattered by 45 seconds.
Pablo’s fiancé, Shannon Rowbury, was the 1st place female winner of the 5K with an official finish time of 15:58. This record was shattered by 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Shannon Rowbury is a U.S Olympic middle distance runner, a, U.S. record holder in the 2 mile and is also a member of the Nike Oregon Project. Both of these individuals had put on a show with breaking each of these records.
Pre-race Interview Sound Bites with Serena (interview with tennis correspondent Harry Cicma):
“Our inaugural Serena Williams Ultimate Run was quite a memorable event,” says Marc Wachter, the event’s executive producer. “Runners of all ages and abilities were very excited to come out in their thousands on a very early and crisp Miami December morning to run alongside Serena for a great cause. We are thrilled to have had such an iconic athlete behind the first in our Ultimate Run series and Serena’s enthusiasm really gave every participant the Ultimate experience. We look forward to making this one of Miami’s most popular sporting occasions on South Florida’s annual event calendar.”
For the children who had ran in the marathon, it was a great experience for them to be in a positive atmosphere with positive icons who were cheering them. Medals and Nike t-shirts was presented for the Ultimate KIDS Dash.
After the run Serena and Venus went on to sing Karaoke and hand out trophies to the winners. The event sponsors including Nike, Gatorade, Delta, Beats by Dre and MISSION Athletecare took part in creating a memorable experience for all participants.
“We are thrilled that a significant portion of proceeds resulting from the Serena Williams Ultimate Run will go towards the Serena Williams Fund, which provides assistance to families affected by violent crimes and providing underprivileged youth around the world with the highest quality of education available to them,” said Michael Rose, Managing Partner of Rose Capital Advisors in Miami Beach and Board Member of the Serena Williams Fund.