Most marathons have bands and entertainers performing along the route. Runners of the 2009 Country Music Marathon in Nashville, however, will have the pleasure of an on-course musician.
Knoxvillian John Longmire, 46, will run the 26.2-mile course Saturday while picking tunes on a banjo to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
"It's not going to be my best playing, I'll tell you that," Longmire said. "I'm having to keep the playing to very simple things."
Longmire and his wife, Patty, serve as team captains for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT), a group that helps athletes pursue their race goals while raising funds for the society.
Last year, Longmire was playing banjo for the Country Music Television special "Outsider's Inn" when a TNT teammate tuned in. As a joke, she suggested he run a race with the instrument.
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