GILDA’S GANG KICKS-OFF 2010 SEASON
Country Music Half Marathon Training Program Marks Fifth Year

NASHVILLE, TENN – January 5, 2010 – Gilda’s Club® Nashville – a social and emotional support community for anyone touched by cancer - is once again offering a 16-week Country Music Half Marathon training program led by certified trainers from Vanderbilt’s Dayani Center. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Gilda’s Gang training program.  The program is geared to all fitness levels and will be an opportunity to get fit while giving back those in middle Tennessee who are living with cancer.
 
The co-chairs for this year’s event are Amy Marsalis (former NewsChannel5 anchor) and Anne Washburn (Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center); Bryan White (country music artist) will serve as Honorary Chairperson.
 
The 2010 training program begins this Saturday, January 9 and will include weekly group walk/runs led by fitness specialists as well as mid-week training options, access to Vanderbilt’s Dayani Center, personalized training plans for all levels, and Firstgiving™, an online fundraising tool. To join The Gang all participants are asked to raise a minimum of $750 – with all monies going directly to support the free programs at Gilda's Club Nashville.

Gilda’s Gang™ began in 2006 as the inspiration of Dr. Gail Addlestone during her treatments for breast cancer. Her “idea”: to walk or run the Country Music Half-Marathon while raising funds for Gilda’s Club Nashville. In just four years, 300 members of The Gang have raised nearly $500,000.  Additionally, more than 250 students from University School Nashville have trained and competed in the Kid’s marathons while contributing to fundraising efforts for Gilda’s Club.
 
Gilda’s Club Nashville is an affiliate of Gilda’s Club Worldwide and opened its doors in 1998 to offer lectures, workshops, classes, support groups and social activities in a non-residential, home-like setting. Free of charge to everyone, Gilda’s Club Nashville provides a gathering place where people living with cancer and their families and friends can join with others to actively involve themselves in building social and emotional support as a supplement to regular medical care. Gilda’s Club Nashville is a 501(c)(3) corporation and is located at 1707 Division Street.

An information session will be held this Saturday at Gilda’s Club following the kickoff group walk/run at 8AM.