Crow was running to raise money for New Hope Academy, and she says she got plenty of support from people cheering the runners all along the course. She says she can really see how people get hooked on running marathons.

Runners from all over the country are preparing for the 12th annual marathon through downtown Nashville. On Thursday, race organizers held the Health and Fitness Expo were race participate could sign up, get race information and share race stories.

One racer, Daryl Farler shared his story. He’s running his second half-marathon without legs. Farler was scratched by a dog and contracted a rare case of strep.

“I had restrictions of blood flow to my extremities so I lost fingers, I lost both my legs below the knee. I’m actually blind in my left eye and hard of hearing in my left ear,” he explained.

Despite his challenges Farler is one of thousands who will race to support St. Jude this weekend.

Over 30,000 runners are expected.

No one knows the impact of this race like Angel Richardson, who is a cancer survivor herself and had to send both her children to St. Jude because of genetic eye cancer.

“It was so much easier in that sense to go through what we’ve been going through and St. Jude has been a huge blessing to us,” said Richardson.

Singer Vince Gill taunts opposing players. Dierks Bentley plans to attend second-round games against the Coyotes in both Phoenix and Nashville. During games, the likes of Martina McBride and Wynonna join the house band serenading fans in mini-concerts at intermission.

Keith Urban and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, donned the free T-shirts given out to fans as they cheered the Predators to their series-ending victory over Detroit last week in the first round. Reba McEntire also was on hand in a luxury suite.

Shoot, Carrie Underwood is married to Nashville’s top center, Mike Fisher.

Just don’t mistake this for country music’s version of Showtime. They call this Hockeytonking.

“We’ve got a really good thing going,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said Wednesday. “Anyone who’s come and seen us play in Nashville in the playoffs, or even during the regular season for that matter, get blown away by what Nashville has to offer, what pro sports have to offer and what the Predators have to offer.”

This is the Predators’ second straight trip to the Western Conference semifinals, and Trotz noted people from Vancouver who didn’t even think the Predators were in the NHL came to town during the team’s second-round last spring and were impressed.

Trotz has been with the team since the start in 1997, so he said quite a few people have his cell number. He’s texted with Bentley, Gill, Christian singer Michael W. Smith, former ice skater Scott Hamilton, Canadian band High Valley that relocated to Nashville and singer-songwriter John Hiatt.

“Actually, it’s great to get texts from people that aren’t in the business because they’re fans and they’re rooting for you and it’s good,” Trotz said. “I love responding to those.”

Metro Police say Kelly Grimm, James M. Clinard, 54, and Brian Benson, 47, were drinking alcohol and eating hotdogs just before the attack early Tuesday morning.

Benson told investigators that he and Clinard began walking back to the tent they shared when Grimm started hitting Clinard with some type of long blunt object, police said.

Benson said that when he asked Grimm what he was doing, Grimm turned on him and hit him with the same object before turning back to Clinard, who may have then been struck with a rock, police said.

Benson walked to a nearby convenience store and called police at about 2 a.m.

Clinard was found dead at the scene. Benson was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a broken left wrist and head and back injuries, police said.

“They were tossed aside because of their race,” said Byron Perkins, one of a trio of prominent civil rights attorneys representing Nathaniel Claybrooks, 39, and Christopher Johnson, 26, in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville.

The suit says ABC has never put a single person of color – whether African American, Hispanic or Asian – in the central role of “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.”

The popular shows chronicle the search for a mate as the man or woman dates more than a dozen contenders. Each season ends with a final choice of a partner.

The two men said at a press conference they tried to audition for “The Bachelor” last summer in Nashville.

“I heard about a casting call,” said Claybrooks. “I said to myself ‘I’m single … (I can try) to look for someone I could be compatible to in life … lookin’ for love.”‘

He said when he arrived at the auditions, the interviewers spent 45 to 60 minutes with “the white men in front of me” while they gave him only 15 to 20 minutes.

“They rushed me through. I was very upset about the situation and wanted an equal opportunity like anyone else.”

Johnson said his attempt at being interviewed for the role of “The Bachelor” lasted 30 seconds.

He said people of color “never get a show that shows we have love and affection for each other.”

Claybrooks, a former college and minor league football player, is an entrepreneur in Nashville. He owns a barber shop, a sports bar and a car detail business while also working as a meter reader for Nashville Electric Service.

Johnson is also a former college football player and now is a teacher and football coach in Nashville. He said he plans to try out for National Football League teams as a wide receiver soon and also has plans to enlist in the Air Force.

The lawsuit was filed against ABC, Warner Horizon Television Inc, Next Entertainment Inc, NZK Productions Inc and Michael Fleiss, executive producer of the two shows.

ABC, which is owned by The Walt Disney Co, said it had no comment on the lawsuit.

Warner Horizon Television, the production company behind “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” said in a statement the suit was “baseless and without merit.”

The “Tennessee First” lineup runs the gamut. There are documentaries about a former skinhead and the local roller derby team, plus dramas like the quiet story of a girl giving up her dream of going to college or one that hinges on a mysterious box.

There have always been local movies in the festival, but sprinkled throughout rather than bundled together. Artistic director Brian Owens says he wanted to showcase them in part because the quality of Tennessee-made films has shot up in recent years. And he hopes it will be a draw for the local audience.

There have always been local movies in the festival, but sprinkled throughout rather than bundled together. Artistic director Brian Owens says he wanted to showcase them in part because the quality of Tennessee-made films has shot up in recent years. And he hopes it will be a draw for the local audience.

“By opening with that connection to that community it really I think creates a vibrant energy-we’ll find out soon- but the goal is to create a buzz that will carry us all the way through.”

While the festival does draw attendees from within the film industry, Owens estimates that at least 85 percent of tickets are bought by people from the Nashville area who just want to see some movies.

The creator of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” has said he would like the shows to be more diverse. “They just don’t come forward,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

But the lawsuit filed by former TSU and MTSU football players – now a teacher and a barbershop owner, respectively – says otherwise. The plaintiffs allege it’s “a matter of corporate policy” and fear of lower ratings that in 23 seasons over 10 years ABC has not cast a minority in the lead role for either show. Attorney Byron Perkins represents the two rejected bachelors, who are black.

“The question that really should be asked is how does ABC and ‘The Bachelor’ explain zero?”

While a common occurrence in the entertainment business, the plaintiffs complain of brief auditions and no reason given for being turned down.

They’ve filed suit in federal court, seeking class action status for all people of color who’ve unsuccessfully tried out for the show.

Detroit is averaging just over 32 shots on net per game on Rinne; Jimmy Howard has dealt with about 25 shots per game in this series. The disparity would make it seem, from a purely statistical perspective, that the Red Wings would have the upper hand at this point. Analysis of why the series has Nashville ahead turns right back to Rinne. In his opinion, he’d rather be in a shooting gallery than standing around the whole game.

“I guess we’re more focused on the game,” he said.

Weber was jeered every time he touched the puck for smashing Henrik Zetterberg’s face into glass at the end of Game 1.

“We talk about great players when there’s a little bit of controversy stepping up,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “When he came to the rink, he knew he wasn’t going to be the most likable player in the arena.”

Weber’s goal snapped Nashville’s 0-for-12 streak on the power play against the Red Wings in the series and helped the franchise end its 0-for-6 skid in playoff games against them on the road.

“We haven’t been around for 100 years, so this was just another thing we had to get done,” Trotz said.

He is also suspected of holding up four nightclub patrons with the stun gun and revolver, carjacking a cab, posing as a hotel worker to rob guests and breaking into an office where he smeared feces on framed law degrees.

He was arrested after taking a cab to another hotel, pulling a knife on the driver and refusing to pay the fare.

He remained in jail Thursday, awaiting trial. Jail records don’t indicate if he has a lawyer.