"It was great to start the race with our Team Rio folks pumped and ready to run for Big Brothers Big Sisters," shares Olander. "One of my favorite parts of the Country Music Marathon is the first right turn off Broadway going towards the Country Music Hall of Fame. As I looked over my right shoulder I could see 34,000 people in the race baring down on me from up the hill. It'll make you get a move on that's for sure. The 2:08 for my half marathon time is not what I was looking for this year. I screwed up my hydration and had calf and hamstring cramps from mile 6 on and ended up walking a lot. I thought as I was peeing during the middle of the night, 'Hey stupid, I think this is your water reserve you are getting rid of.' Sometimes less is more."

In addition to the adult team, Team Rio Kids 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 115 kids from numerous local programs in warm ups 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.

It's not too late to make a donation. If you would like to support Jimmy, Marty or any Team Rio member a donation can be made at www.teamrio.kintera.org/jimmyo or www.teamrio.kintera.org/martyroe. 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 Word Entertainment:
A leader in the music industry for 59 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including brand management, A&R, music publishing, merchandising, direct to fan, and booking. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music and is home to Word Distribution, Word Print, The Breen Agency, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group’s Word Records, Fervent Records, and Myrrh Records.

About Team Rio:
Team Rio was founded in the winter of 2004 by Diamond Rio's guitarist, Jimmy Olander and Modern Management's Renee Behrman-Greiman. Diamond Rio, long-time National Ambassadors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Behrman-Greiman, a Big Sister and Board Member with the agency allocated BBBS as the team's benefactor. Neither of them remember 100% committing to running the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon in 2005, however they do remember crossing the finish line for the first time with twenty-five committed team members, an amazing cheering section and raising over $24,000.00 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. In the past five years over $390,0000 has been raised for the Middle Tennessee agency. Team Rio Running/Walking for Big Brothers Big Sisters has grown to over 150 runners and walkers and added Team Rio Kids with over 80 kid participants in the kid’s marathon. Team Rio is celebrating its sixth anniversary.

About Team Rio Kids:
In addition to raising funds and awareness for the agency, a main goal of Team Rio Running and Walking for Big Brothers Big Sisters is to promote health and fitness to local kids. The youth team, TEAM RIO KIDS, partners with local schools to teach and encourage a healthier lifestyle and assist the kids with their training for the Kids Marathon. Team Rio Kids will train within their respective schools or with their parents to complete 25.2 miles prior to April 23 when they will complete the last mile of the actual course and cross the official Country Music Marathon finish line. SGT Ken, Team Rio Kids Coach, provides training schedules and health tips in his weekly email newsletters, “SGT Ken Says.”

About Diamond Rio:
Diamond Rio unveiled their 11th album The Reason on Word Records in September of 2009, which won them their first-ever Dove Award for "Country Album of the Year" this April. The autobiography “Beautiful Mess” from Thomas Nelson coincided with the album release. Formed in 1984, Diamond Rio features lead singer Marty Roe, guitarist Jimmy Olander, drummer Brian Prout, keyboardist Dan Truman, bassist/harmony Dana Williams and Gene Johnson on mandolin/harmony. The band signed with Arista in 1988 and embarked on one of the most successful careers in country music. The band has sold over 10 million albums earning three platinum and five gold records and won the Country Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year award four times as well as netting two Academy of Country Music Awards in the top Vocal Group of the Year category and thirteen GRAMMY ® nominations. When they debuted in 1991 with the hit “Meet in the Middle,” Diamond Rio became the first group in the history of country music to have a debut single reach No. 1. They continued to place 32 more singles (including nine #1 singles)on the charts, including “How Your Love Makes Me Feel,” “Norma Jean Riley,” “Beautiful Mess” and “Love a Little Stronger.” They have been 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. For Diamond Rio news and tour dates, please visit www.diamondrio.com.

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.