Brown County YMCA Hilly Half Marathon
Nashville, IN
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Brown County YMCA Hilly Half Marathon hopes to highlight the county, promote health, well-being and create a true sense of community. The Half Marathon scenic route starts and finishes at the Saddle Barn/Lower Shelter house winding its way through picturesque Brown County State Park. Up hills, past the fire … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Nov 21):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 53 | 43 | 53 | 50 | 48 |
| L (°F) | 47 | 31 | 41 | 24 | 39 |
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Fun small race
Race was reasonably well organized, though a major snafu with the restroom situation caused a 30 minute delay to the start of the race. If it had not been in … MORE
Race was reasonably well organized, though a major snafu with the restroom situation caused a 30 minute delay to the start of the race. If it had not been in the high 60s at start time, this could have been a bigger problem.
Course is pretty challenging with a 2.5 mile hill at the start. Up and down after that and then the 2.5 mile descent to finish. Start and Finish are very close on this out and back course. Road surface was good throughout. Some vehicle traffic in spots, but runner lanes were well marked. Spectators were limited, but it was possible to see runners in a couple of places if willing to drive. (I got to see my family once on the course and at the finish.)
Overall, a nice race that needs a little more attention to the prerace arrangements.
Hilly Half
This course definitely kicked my ass but boy did I love the challenge. The scenery, the race directors and the volunteers were all so incredibly sweet and welcoming. I PRd … MORE
This course definitely kicked my ass but boy did I love the challenge. The scenery, the race directors and the volunteers were all so incredibly sweet and welcoming. I PRd here and I will be back.
Hill Of A Good Time
This race definitely earns its name!! An out and back through beautiful Brown County State Park. Only race I have done where you get hot soup and breadsticks afterwards!! Their … MORE
This race definitely earns its name!! An out and back through beautiful Brown County State Park. Only race I have done where you get hot soup and breadsticks afterwards!! Their shirts are always one of my favorite race shirts.
Good to have it back
See my review from 2019. Same race, same course. Didn’t have it due to Covid last year. Great year end race. Good to have it back live. Once again everything … MORE
See my review from 2019. Same race, same course. Didn’t have it due to Covid last year. Great year end race. Good to have it back live.
Once again everything was great except the hey stopped the beer mile. But the chili and beer at the after race were good.
Great late Nov race
Great late Nov race in Brown County / Bloomington In. Called the Hilly Half for a good reason. Solid long steep hills. From the beginning... Weather - this race is … MORE
Great late Nov race in Brown County / Bloomington In.
Called the Hilly Half for a good reason. Solid long steep hills.
From the beginning…
Weather – this race is always cold. Starts at 9 am. Mid 20’s cloudy and breezy. Waiting for the start of the race can be a little cold
Medium participation. Probably 300 people in the half. Also have 5k and 10k but they start later so don’t know the numbers for them.
Easy package pickup race morning.
The course – as I said before – long steep hills. The first 3 miles are straight up hill. Then rolling hills for miles 4 to 7. Miles 8 to 10 short steep up and down hills. Then 10 to 13 back down the 3 mile uphill from the start.
Race is in Brown County park in Bloomington and scenery was really nice. Once you get to the top of the hills many overlooks of the park / area below. Really nice. Usually the view is of trees changing but this year due to cold weather and snow it was a mixture of snow and falling leaves.
So great workout and course but a bummer downside.
One of their advertised selling points of the race is a beer mile at mile 12. One of the major sponsors is a beer company. This year any half marathoner that took over 1 and half hours missed the beer mile. They were out of beer. If you are going to use it has one of your selling points for the race you may want to have enough to go around. Pretty disappointing.
Finish – great food. Chili and tomato soup, cookies, breadsticks. And yes – beer and Bloody Mary’s.
Large medal for a half if you care about this things for a half. (Mike S).
So all in all great race if you don’t crave promised beer at mile 12.