Diamond Rio Participates in the 2012 St. Jude’s Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon
Diamond Rio’s Jimmy Olander and Gene Johnson both celebrated firsts on Saturday while participating in the St. Jude’s Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon. Olander completed his first full marathon (26.2 miles) and Johnson completed his first half marathon (13.1 miles). Team Rio 2012 had over 100 adult runners and 60 Team Rio Kids participants from several local schools.
Last year Olander, Team Rio’s Celebrity Running Captain, accomplished his goal of finishing the half marathon in less than two hours, but this year the high temperatures in Music City slowed him down.
“I finished about 30 minutes later than I had anticipated,” explains Olander. “The heat zapped me this year and my hamstrings said, ‘no sir!’ around mile 14. .”
Olander also tweeted on race day: “It was a full day… 3:40 am coffee, 7am Country Music Marathon, 12:30pm ice bath, 4:00pm coach baseball, 7:30 and 10:00 pm Grand Ole Opry performances.”
Diamond Rio’s, Gene Johnson proudly finished his first half. He trained to participate in the last few CMM’s but injuries always kept him from running. “Last year around marathon time I decided I was going to [run] in 2012. I trained to walk it before, but never to run. I hadn’t jogged in 20 years. Take 20 years off from jogging and it’s not like it was when I was younger! I spent most of my time race day trying not to get caught up in the excitement. I didn’t want to change my pace from training. I heard some great bands out there, but I don’t know if heat stroke set in because I couldn’t remember where any of them were.”
New this year, Team Rio added a spinning component to the fitness and fundraising efforts at the official Team Rio cheer station, FIT in the Gulch. Situated at the mile two marker, spinners participated by spinning 13.1 miles, while DJ Silver spun his own musical mashups to help pump up not only the spinners, but the passing marathon runners. “Ebie and I came up with this idea last year while cheering on the runners and wishing there was a way for us non-runners to be active while supporting Team Rio,” shares Bryan Berndt, the owner of FIT in the Gulch. “We had an amazing time and we’re looking forward to an even bigger spin-off next year!” Passing runners showed their appreciation for the spinners with waves, thumbs up, and dancing to the music as they ran.
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