To the editor:
What a day it was! The 2019 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 800 runners had a great time, stayed safe, and enjoyed a great lunch/party!
So many of you have been with us from the beginning, and we all feel like we own this race. After four years, you make this look like a walk in the park! Oh wait — it’s a run in the park!
We also have wonderful repeats and 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 awhile in the morning. Additionally, we’ve had a large contingent of teenagers from Brown County High School every year that has filled some very important gaps.
It’s hard to express how grateful we ALL 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 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 for being our presenting sponsor 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 with a Quaff ON! beer truck and a free pint glass of beer to participants, hot breadsticks and music by the Indiana Boys. There were fires in the shelter fireplaces and in portable firepits 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 wouldn’t be the Hilly if not in the state park!
Thank you to the Brown County Convention & Visitors Bureau for both the financial and manpower support; our social media campaign was great. 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 Ryan 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 and muffins; the volunteers appreciated it.
Thank you to Brad Cox for creating our custom overall winner awards and to White River Running Company in Columbus for gift certificates to winners.
Thank you to our local EMA Director Susan Armstrong; Columbus Regional Health; Nashville, Fruitdale, Hamblen, Cordry-Sweetwater and Southern Brown volunteer fire departments; and Corey Frost, emergency preparedness coordinator, for making sure every participant was safe every inch along the course. Each water stop had a first responder on stand-by in UTVs. Thank you to Keith Baker and his team from Brown County Sheriff’s Department for keeping runners safe on the road from park traffic.
Thank you to Greg Wright for leading the runners through the course and Mike Lafferty for being the sweeper.
Thanks to Mike and Mitzie Salem of Good Nature Farm for use of their box truck for gear check.
Thank you to ALL of our sponsors: Big Woods, Brown County Convention & Visitors Bureau, PNC Bank, Brown County Democrat, IU Health, Stifel Endeavor Investment Group, Real America LLC, Mainstream Fiber, Hills O’Brown Vacation Rentals, Peaceful Valley Construction, Weaver Fine Furniture, Bear Hardware, Centra Credit Union, Commercial Services, Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping, Zeller Insurance, Jackson Connect, MIBOR of Brown County, Life is Good, Brown County Rock & Fossil Shop, Smithville Fiber, Duke Energy, The May Agency, Brown County Inn, Subway, Brown County Music Center, OORNJ, Indiana Timing and Curt Winders.
Thank you to Rick and his wonderful staff at Abe Martin Lodge! The hot soup was delicious.
Thank you to Kevin Ault and his bakers! Ordering 1,600 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!
New this year: OhHillYes Soap from Brown County Soap Company — thank you, Christy McGinley! OhHillYes blend of coffee from Sidetrack Coffee — thank you Josh Buhneing. DASH DJ kept us on our feet and entertained throughout the morning. And we had a special treat of Ivy Tech massage therapy students offering free massages after the race!
A special thank-you to the dedicated team of staff and volunteers who spent hours pulling this all together, and without each of you we wouldn’t be successful: DeAnne Weaver, Carol Zapapas, Brian Fenneman, Bob Blass, Jane Ellis, Corey Frost, Susan Armstrong, Chris Henderson, Rex Watters and Betsy Smith.
This event wouldn’t have happened without the 100+ volunteers who braved the cold on race day: Chase Austin, Emily Austin, Pam Bailey, Grace Baughman, Olivia Baughman, Megan Bickley, Bob Blass, Griffin Bongard, Victor Bongard, Emily Crase, Cassidy Davis, Dani Dean, Ken Delap, Nancy Dietz, Bonnie Closey, Matt Eaton, Sue Engledow, Emily Earnshaw, Marilyn Fagg, Rhett Fagg, Darla Fenneman, Brian Fenneman, Teresa Geary, Pam Green, Roger Grissette, Bella Hobbs, Aubrey Hollander, Kenny Holsclaw, Emelia Koester, Tony Krug, Larry Kuhn, Mike Lafferty, Mike Laros, Danny Leffler, Tona Martin Nelson, Jessie Meranda, Angela Meredith, Jamie Meredith, Jen Milan, Lydia Miller, Marie Mooney, Jeff Mooney, Hunter Meredith, Molly Morgan, Jim Nelson, Betsy Parman, Dennis Parman, Judy Reeves, Bill Robinson, Herb Ross, Karen Smith, Doreen St Clair, Allison Stogsdill, Locke Stadler, Lukas Stadler, Lisa Stadler, Joe Steele, Natalie Suding, Kathy Tucker, Ken Umphrey, Craig Walker, Rex Watters IV, Ryan Watters, Rex Watters III, Allison Watters, Susie Weaver, Deanne Weaver, Morgan Wilson, Greg Wright, Tammy Yacchari, Kathy Yeager, and 5:15 a.m. angel Colby Marker.
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 2020. OhHillYes!
Kim Robinson, executive director, Brown County YMCA
Send letters to [email protected] by noon Thursday before the date of intended publication (noon Wednesday on holiday weeks). Letters are the opinions of the writer. Letters must be signed by the author and include the writer’s town of residence and a contact number in case of questions.
Only one letter every two weeks, per writer, to allow for diversity of voices in the opinions section. Please be considerate of sharing space with other letter-writers and keep your comments concise and to the point. Avoid name-calling, accusations of criminal activity and second- and third-hand statements of “fact.”
