LETTER: Giving thanks to all who made Hilly Half possible

To the editor:

What a day it was! The 2021 Brown County YMCA Hilly Half is in the books!

It was a beautiful day, the runners were so happy, the after-race party was great fun and all because of you! This race could not have occurred without the help from our community.

We had over 100 volunteers offering their time between Friday and Saturday making sure over 775 runners had a great time, stayed safe and enjoyed a great lunch and post-race party! So many of you have been with us from the beginning and we all feel like we own this race. After five years you make this look like a walk in the park. Oh wait, it’s a run in the park!

We also have new individuals who are willing to give a helping hand and offer six to eight hours of their weekend day in the hopes of giving back and having a little fun while doing it.

All of this while not knowing what kind of weather we’re going to have, but knowing that they’ll likely be cold for a while in the morning.

It’s hard to express how grateful we are for your willingness to volunteer. Thank you for saying yes when asked. Thank you very much for being part of this great group. And thank you for making this the great race in Brown County! It’s because of you making this a premier event that runners want to add this race to their bucket list.

Thank you for supporting the Hilly Half, and the Brown County YMCA!

The entire 13.1 mile course is in the Brown County State Park, beginning at the saddle barn/Lower Shelter House and winding up Saddle Barn Road past the Aynes House, the park office, fire tower, campground and the Nature Center. The turnaround was at Hohen Point and racers headed back to the Lower Shelter House for the Big Woods Post-Race Party. We had a 5K and 10K option and for both. You could opt to walk or run or both!

Thank you to Big Woods/Quaff ON! for being our post-race party sponsor again this year. They provided a wonderful site at Hard Truth Hills for Friday night pre-race packet pick-up including a pasta dinner and music. They also generously provided their post-race party Quaff ON! Beer Truck, hot breadsticks and a pint glass.

There were fires in the shelter fireplaces and in portable fire pits making for a great, warming atmosphere. Thank you to Brown County State Park staff for letting us take over the Lower Shelter House and the park for the morning. The Hilly Half wouldn’t be the Hilly Half if not in the state park!

Thank you to Brown County Visitor and Convention Bureau for helping to promote the day and online sales.

Thank you to Bob Blass for the graphic designs and Facebook ads.

Thank you to the Brown County Democrat for the wonderful print coverage and featuring the Hilly Half in the winter Almanack.

Thank you to Dale Seward for providing tables, chairs and tents for volunteers and the post-race party. Thank you to Brown County IGA for supplying water and bananas for all race participants. Thank you to McDonald’s for race day coffee, the volunteers appreciated it.

Thank you to Martha Sechler for creating our custom overall winner awards with her amazing gourds and to White River Running Company in Columbus for gift certificates to winners.

Thank you to our local EMA Director Susan Armstrong; Brown County Volunteer Fire Department, Hunter Riebl and Brandy Childers; Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department, Dia Jones and Jim Norton; Hamblen Township Volunteer Fire Department, Billy Redmond, Taylor Childers, Dave Frensemeier and Arlan Pierce; Cordry-Sweetwater Volunteer Fire Department; and Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department; and Chris Henderson with Indiana University Health Lifeline for making sure every participant was safe every inch along the course.

Each water stop had a first responder on stand-by in UTV’s. Thank you to Keith Baker and his team from the Brown County Sheriff Department Reserves: Dan Acres, Keith Baker, Andrea Baker, Thom Miller, Shane Jackson, Bryan Katterhenry and Dean Keefauver, for keeping runners safe on the road from park traffic.

Thank you to Greg Wright for leading the runners through the course on his bike.

Thank you to all of our sponsors: Anthem; Blue & Co, CPAs; Big Woods; Brown County Democrat; Brown County Convention and Visitors Center; Brown County Health and Living; Brown County Winery; Brown County Rock and Fossil Shop; Carpenter Hills O’Brown Realty; Centra Credit Union; Commercial Services; Duke Energy; Hall Scott, Attorneys at Law; Hills O’Brown Vacation Rentals; IU Health; Jackson County REMC; Jack and Jill Nut Shop: John and Amber Elwood; Life is Good; Peaceful Valley Construction; Quaff ON!; Stifel Endeavor Investment Group; Touch of Silver Gold and Old; Weaver Fine Furniture; Zeller Insurance; OORNJ; Iwant2Run Timers; and Curt Winders

Thank you to Jenni Voris and wonderful staff at Abe Martin Lodge! The hot soup was delicious.

Thank you to Kevin Ault and his bakers because 2,000 cookies is a tall order and they were wonderful.

Thank you to White River Running Company for gift certificates to second and third place overall winners.

DASH DJ kept us on our feet, informed and entertained throughout the morning. And we had a special treat of PT Solutions being on site to provide runner support!

The organizing team has dwindled, but a special thank you goes to the staff and volunteers who spent hours pulling this all together and without each of you we wouldn’t be successful: DeAnne Weaver, Brian Fenneman, Debbie Leach, Bob Blass, Jane Ellis, Susan Armstrong, Chris Henderson and Rex Watters.

This event wouldn’t have happened without the 100 plus volunteers who braved the cold on race day: Haydon Beasley, Bob Blass, Roger Cagwin, Isaac Capshaw, Carey Capshaw, Owen Capshaw, William Capshaw, Roger Grissett, Richard Hall, Kenny Holsclaw, Matthew Jackson, Cory Joy, Larry Kuhn, Ali Keller, Libby Ladd, Sarah Ladd, Marsha Lafferty, Nancy Marchand, Tona Martin, Jessie Merenda, Lesley Metcalfe, Angela Meredith, Lydia Miller, Marie Mooney, Jeff Mooney, Jim Nelson, Lynne O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Betsy Parman, Dennis Parman, Heather Powell, Matt Powell, Jerry Reeves, Judy Reeves, Mike Richardson, Murlaina Richardson, Bill Robinson, Quincy Robinson, Greg Roshel, Herb Ross, Mattie Satter, Barb Schade, Warren Schade, Karen Smith, Bree Smith, RJ Smith, Locke Stadler, Lukas Stadler, Lisa Stadler, Larry Voris, Craig Walker, Rex Watters III, Allison Watters, Deanne Weaver, Andi Wilson, Greg Wright, Tammy Yacchari, Kathy Yeager and Kevin Yeager.

The Hilly Half is an act of love to show our support of the Brown County Community YMCA and a heartfelt thank you goes out to each and every one of you who helped from me. It wouldn’t be what it is without you.

See you all in 2022. OhHillYes!

Kim Robinson, executive director, Brown County YMCA