Dear Organizers and Volunteers of the "Hills and Heels Half Marathon" Las Colinas Texas, Like all of you I am sure :) I am tired BUT I could not let this day slip into tomorrow without writing this THANK YOU NOTE! Dozens of tiny details EACH YOU MADE HAPPEN were the HIGH LIGHT OF THIS PERFECT DAY FOR MY FAMILY AND I!!!!
* The EASY drive to the race and EASY parking and EASY shoe tag pick up and EASY wait in the short line to use the CLEAN PORT O POTTY WITH TOLITE PAPER AND ANTISEPTIC :) perfection!!!!
* Getting to the race early and taking photo's with my family around the stallion statutes and watching my little girl play contently around the SAFE fountains for 45 min - A TOTAL JOY AND HAPPY MEMORY.
* The ABSOLUTLY BEAUTIFUL, SMOOTH RUNNING TRAIL!!!! - The shaded tree covered trail with the smells of jasmine and honeysuckle --- Oh my does it get any better than that - AMAZING!!!!
* I loved the out and back Trail!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was awesome for sooooo many reasons...
- I could Visualize the trail back and have an idea of how far I had left to FINISH :)
- I knew where the water stations were on the way back and oh my what SWEET SWEET Volunteers you had... ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the stations were wonderful!!! Perfection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- a BIG BIG HUG to the people who were sooooooooooooo thoughtful to pass out the gu gummy bears packets on the race trail!!!! They were soooo yummy and soooo needed and just GREAT!!!!!!!
- and a BIG BIG HUG to people who passed out the wet TOWELS - WHAT A SWEET AMAZING TREAT - THAT WAS ONE AMAZING SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW THANK YOU THANK YOU IT WAS SO REFRESHING!
- The spacing of the water stations and well ever little detail was PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- The info about where our family could cheer us on was sooooo sweet and nice - it was delightful and the out and back trail let them cheer us on TWICE without moving and they looked HAPPY and (they were safe because the trail was not right on the street) and they were having FUN!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
- The trail was soooooooooooooooo lovely I think I could have made it even without the people and the cool sings people set out and the other sweet distractions - dogs, babies, bells ringing allllll of the distractions help .... BUT THE best distraction of this race was the sights and smell of GOD'S BEATUTY alllllll around us... OH my the smell of the fresh air in the middle of the city was TOTALLY worth the entry fee alone....
- Seeing the winners :) because they run past you on the way in was AWESOME!!!!! It was soooooooo fun to cheer them on!!!! It was soooo cool to be close enough to almost touch them... To see the spark of compition in their eyes... so seeeeee what 0 percent body fat looks like to see them SMILE as they run THAT fast was a TOTALLY COOOOOOOOLLLL UNFORGETABLE experiacne - Thank you!
- LOVED LOVED LOVED the pace keepers dressed in skirts.... REAL MEN DO WEAR skirts :) They looked like they were having FUN! They looked like they felt valued and needed and appreciated and without all the other men in the race they well SMILED and looked calm and were a JOY JOY JOY to see! Loved the outfits and loved loved loved the balloons - Every time I saw a set of balloons in the air I felt light and happy and well like I was at a circus or six flags or a birthday party not in a half marathon...
* I would have signed up earlier in the year but the hills scared the pants off me and I was nervous about it being too hot.... Was God goooooooooooooooooooooooood to us or what - the day was PERFECT! cool breezes... cloudy but no rain.... God is soooooooooooooooooooo sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!
* I DID love the sings - You guys had some great ones... From the tortoise or the hare tooo You Finished YOU ARE A WINNER! to Pick your next race out and sign up for it today :) All of them were appreciated.
* I have a heart condition so seeing the paramedic on the bike was a sweet comfort each time I saw him and I know he passed me at least 4 times - WOW WHAT AN AWESOME GUY!!!
* The kind and caring Police officers -they SMILED - they looked like they felt valued and appreciated and I can HONESTLY say I VALUE AND APPRECIATE each one of them. The Officer on the motorcycle was so kind and sensitive and careful as he drove around us!
* The atmosphere was exciting but also CALM AND PEACEFUL and HEALING! Hard to describe but something I will never forget.... I was moved to tears of JOY as the race STARTED and SQUEELS of JOY as it ended...
* The hot baked potatoes were YUMMY YUMMY and a FUN SURPRISE!!! The ladies passing them out - just thinking about those ladies dancing and laughing to the music all around us makes me SMILE :)
* The young men that passed out the medals... Tears again... What an honor to have them put that medal around my neck... AMAZING VOLUNTEERS...
* Thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much for not running out of medals... The White Rock and Armadilllo Dash both ran out and that is just well - honestly the saddest thing... They say they don't know what to do when they have extras.... I say give them to the water station volunteers - to the kids who we are trying to motivate to run the longer races by letting them run the shorter ones... KIDS LOVE THE MEDALS... My daughter sleeps in mine for days and says she dreams of winning hers soon :) THEY EARN them as much as we do!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I noticed yours did not have the date... hey that is TOTALLY OK with me I can go get it engraved. but not having one at all is just sad... Sorry for venting when you did it PERFECTLY - I just knew you were the kind of people who listen and thanks for listening and thanks thanks thanks for having the AWESOME MEDALS...
*The bib tags with our names on them COOOOOOLLLLLL idea. I am signing up early just for that...
*I am showing up early for the bagels next year tooooo and the orange slices BEFORE the race another SWEET SWEET and may I add delicious treat!!!! Thank you thank you thank you....
* I LOVE the name of the race and the high heel graphic sooooooo much!!!!! I do think you should put a LARGE sign on the web page telling first timers the hill are more like bumps in the road... DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT LET THEM STOP YOU FROM SIGNING UP... I almost didn't sign up for FEAR of the hills and guess what this was my first half marathon that DID NOT HURT ME!!!!!! Yea God! Yep you can quote me ....
* Walking the river walk area around the race... yep I was so REFRESHED we walked for another hour as a family AFTER the race! I felt better after the race than I did before the race- what an answer to prayer! It is sooooo obvious you guys are praying - believing - people! :) My dream goal is to run the Kauai marathon in Sept of this year and for the first time today after running your half - I felt HOPE and JOY and knew in my heart IT IS POSSIBLE! ALLLLLLL things are possible with God.... Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* and how do I end without saying thank you for the COOLEST most BEAUTIFUL T-shirts and medals EVER EVER EVER!!! I would have liked to buy a half dozen more of the shirts (One for everyday of the week I go to work out!!!:) but you were out of smalls - :) It's ok I have something to save for and look forward to next year... We did buy and extra medium and let my little girl use it for a night shirt - she too loved the colors and design to of course... TOTALLY WORTH $15.00
The only suggest I have is possibly having a Packet pick up at CONNIE KELLY'S CK SPORTS in McKinney :)
But honestly as a first time runner It was NICE to pick up near the trail and go see the trail so I was calmed and got some sleep - remember the hills REALLY scared me :) and your packet pick up was smoooooooth and sweet sweet sweet volunteers were EVERY PLACE :)
Oh and my little girl said she wished the GOLDALA'S were open on the river walk area cause she would have spent her allowance to give me a ride on it - she was sooooo proud of me.... :)
Oh she also said Balloons for the kids would have been cool... you know kids always milking it :)
I am sorry for any missed spelled words - I just wanted you to have a HAPPY THANK YOU TO READ When you woke up tomorrow.
God bless each of you in His special way!
Finished the race- testifying to God's grace... Acts.. 20:24
Victory in Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:57
Ephesians 3:20-22 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Susan Camille Middleton-Mathis... age 47
Husband John age 47 and
Daughter Faith age 8
Oh here are two gifts....
This one is from my daughter Faith.... You guys could sell Poster Board for $2.50 a poster board and have markers in big pots and us kids could make posters to cheer our mom's on... This would encourage us to get up early and get out of the house so mom would get to the race early and we could have fun making a poster during the hour before the race starts... and sell balloons for $2.50 tooo :)
This gift is from my husband - a T-shirt slogan idea to sell to allll the cheerleading dads.
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