Nursing students gearing up for Country Music Marathon
About 50 students from the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing will be lacing up and hitting the city streets Saturday for the annual Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon.
Several students have been training together to run or walk the full and half marathon, while a group of other students have volunteered to offer medical assistance in the first-aid areas set up every few miles on the race's course.
Betsy Bogler, R.N., a student in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Specialty and a longtime runner, is leading the efforts at VUSN. She ran cross country and track at Rhodes College before entering the master's program at VUSN.
Bogler recently set a state record for her age group in the Tom King half marathon, finishing in 1:25:24. She said it can be hard to juggle training for a marathon with the demands of a nursing education, but she has worked through it.
“I make time. I'm less stressed if I allow myself to run.” Bogler also finds time to send a weekly e-mail update to fellow classmates who are training for the race, with various tips on running and nutrition to get them through the event.
Bogler and other runners from VUSN will join the 18,000 expected participants and 3,700 general and medical volunteers for the sixth annual event. The marathon begins at Centennial Park at 7 a.m.
For more information about the Country Music Marathon, visit http://www.cmmarathon.com/.