“This year’s 1/2 marathon was a doozy for me," says Jimmy Olander, Diamond Rio's lead guitarist. "Having an ankle sprain late in my training and then pile on the heat, I was one of the 'Country Music Marathon Whiners.' I found myself talking in third person from mile six on...'Jimmy hurting,' 'Jimmy gonna walk now.' If it hadn't been for my teammate Alan limping in the rest of the way with me, I may still be trying to get to the coliseum. Next year will be another story!"

In addition to the adult team, Team Rio Kids, including first-time participant Max Olander (Jimmy’s son) were out in full force competing in Friday's Country Music Kids Marathon. Master Fitness Trainer and six-time Soldier of the Year Sgt Ken Weichert led 80 kids from five local programs in warm ups and preparation as they ran the last mile of the marathon and crossed the official Country Music Marathon finish line. Team Rio Kids partners with local schools to teach and encourage healthier lifestyles and to assist the kids with training for the Kids Marathon.

For more information on Team Rio and to sign up for next year's team, please visit www.teamrio.org. For Diamond Rio news and tour dates, please visit www.diamondrio.com.

About Diamond Rio
Diamond Rio has had an illustrious career that includes over 10 million album sales, nine #1 singles, nominated for 13 consecutive CMA Vocal Group of the Year awards (more than any other band in the format), 13 Grammy nominations, and named Grand Ole Opry members in 1998. The band is highly regarded for their charitable contributions as the longtime National Spokespersons for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and was further honored with the prestigious Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award in 2004.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters helps children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one friendships between a caring adult volunteer and a child. The children are from all backgrounds, and they are found to benefit from an additional positive adult role model in their lives. This one-to-one relationship is proven to cause children to do better in school, avoid drugs and violence, and establish new goals for themselves. Their website is www.mentorakid.org.

In 2008, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee served over 2,200 Middle Tennessee children with a one-to-one mentor. 2009 marks Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee’s fortieth anniversary for serving children.

Big Brothers Big Sisters serves children all across Middle Tennessee in Metro Nashville/Davidson County as well as Rutherford, Williamson, Cheatham, Hickman, Dickson, Robertson, Sumner, and Wilson counties.

The administrative offices for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee can be reached at 1704 Charlotte Avenue, Suite 130, Nashville, TN 37203 or by calling (615) 329-9191. To better serve clients, there is additionally a satellite office in Murfreesboro.

Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is comprised of Word Distribution, Word Music and Word Label Group’s Word Records, Fervent Records, Myrrh Records, Canaan Records and Word Music Publishing. Leading the industry with over 50 years of music making history, Word Entertainment represents some of Christian entertainment’s top brands, including award-winning artists Diamond Rio, Point Of Grace, BarlowGirl, Mark Schultz, Randy Travis, Selah, Natalie Grant, Aaron Shust, Big Daddy Weave and Francesca Battistelli, in addition to Big Idea's successful VeggieTales video series.

 

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