This is the 16th year that the Huntsville Track Club and Race Director Dink Taylor have held this great race. What started with fewer than 50 runners has grown to 350 pre-registered runners and now ranks in the top 10 largest 50km races in the country. This year it took just 12 days back in October for this race to reach max capacity.
Runners begin to meet at first light on Saturday and Sunday mornings starting in late December and alternate running the first and second halves of the course on successive days.
The two halves of the course are drastically different from each other. The first 10km is relatively easy running from the Monte Sano Lodge out toward O’Shaugnessy Point on Chestnutt and Mountain Mist Trails. There is a very fast ride down War Path Ridge after that and out onto the power lines before the first major climb of the race up K2. Then onto Goat Trail toward Three Benches and a loop around Keith and Logan Trails before making way through the infamous Stone Cuts where you run through a stone tunnel and navigate your way back down toward Three Benches again. Finally, it is Mountain Mist trail back out to Fearn Road for another aid station and the end of the first half of the course (actually mile 17.25 but time wise, about half way). This half plays to the strengths of fast and long striders as it is not overly technical.
The second, and much more difficult half of the course, starts from Aid Station #3 and makes its way down onto the Huntsville Land Trust trails. The next 4 miles along Tollgate trail onto Bluffline and to the Land Trust Parking Lot along High Trail are mostly downhill and despite some technical sections are still very runnable. Railroad Bed Trail is a button hook section where the railroad used to switch back up the mountain and is more rock than trail; most footfalls strike small jagged rocks and runners often feel like they are moving backward on this trail. Despite the technical terrain of Rail Road Bed and then Alms House, the course continues to navigate downhill. At Three Caves (famous from the a Kansas video) is the second major climb of the race. Waterline is a straight ¾ mile climb where the last 800’ requires some hand climbs as you pass Dry Falls. Runners are rewarded at the top of Waterline with another short climb and barren stretch through a tree grave yard. From Trough Springs, the final 10km begins and features a very technical, yet fast decent into McKay Hollow. After a relatively flat mile through the Hollow, the final climb up Rest Shelter Hill typically brings most runners to their knees. The last aid station is at the top of hill and from there it is a fast 1.75 miles back to the Lodge.
Over the years there have been some great performances on this course, including several by local runners. DeWayne Satterfield has won this race 9 times times and run as fast as 4:03 on the modern course. Dave Mackey set the course record in 2007, shattering the old mark when he ran 3:46:19. Yet the most anticipated running is this year, where local phenom and Rocket City Marathon winner David Riddle is set to run The Mist for the first time. Recently David cruised to a 3:21 50km at Dizzy 50’s, breaking the course record by 23 minutes and notching the 10th fastest 50km time in the nation in 2009, according to Real Endurance. Everyone is in for something special when David begins to attack the second half and make a push to break Mackey’s record.
Personally, this race holds a special place in my heart after the 2009 race. Before last year, I was mostly running road races and had only seldom ventured into the ultra marathon realm. I was in excellent shape, having come off of a 2:54 PR at Rocket City Marathon six weeks prior and the weather was cool, just to my liking. I got stronger as the day progressed, and with a late push after the last aid station, managed a 6th place overall finish in a personal record time of 4:32:15. My mantra on that day was that at each check point, everyone was surprised that I was running so well, and I used that to bolster my mental drive. It was this race that launched my passion for ultras as I went on to run 10 more in 2009.
This is a great picture from 2009 where 5 of the top 6 runners are side by side. From left to right, David Rindt, Eric Charette, Jeremy Ramsey, DeWayne Satterfield and Jamie Dial.
As for this year, Mountain Mist is the first major race on my calendar. I finished out last year with a respectable 3:53:15 at Dizzy in November, finishing 2nd only to David’s 3:21. In December I began a few week span where I cut back my mileage to gain some spring back in my legs after a 3900 mile season. I ran a few miles at the Fat Ass 50km on New Years Eve as a training run, but shut it down after 16 miles with some nagging pain in my hip; something that had started brewing at MMTR in November and plagued me at the marathon in early December.
After running every day in 2009, I started 2010 with a rest day and began to train slightly smarter than in the past. I have since integrated more rest and been very focused on quality running. I have had quite a few training sessions on the mountain where I have felt very strong and with some stretching and physical therapy, I have been able to keep the hip pain at bay as I continue to get stronger. I have been working specifically on my downhill technical running, as this course favors that type of runner. My hill climbing has been very outstanding lately, which is no surprise as that is where I usually make up most of my time on the trails.
If we can get another decent weather day this year, I really think that I can roll in under 4:30 for sure, with my ‘A’ goal mark at sub 4:20. A top 10 finish is equally as important as the time goal. In addition to David and DeWayne, 2008 winner David Rindt, recent 2:45 marathoner Tim Vinson and the the re-emerging Rob Youngren should all be ready to run under 4:20. At initial glance, there could be as many as 22 people under 5 hours, which is typically the measure of success on this course.
For equipment, I will be wearing the inov-8 Roclite 305 on my feet, mostly for the technical nature of the second half of the course. The stability in the 305 is slightly better than my alternate and second favorite trail shoe, the inov-8 Roclite 295. It seems like the 305 has gained popularity lately in Huntsville amongst top runners as David and myself will both be wearing it.
I did put together an educated estimate of finishing times for all runners and have listed all those I think will run 5 hours or under. I based it off of recent ultra performances, in conjunction with past experience at Mountain Mist. The number to the immediate left of the runner's name is their seeded position.
1. 4 David Riddle, 28 from Huntsville, AL - 3:45
2. 1 David Rindt, 38 from Roswell, GA - 4:12
3. 3 DeWayne Satterfield, 45 from Huntsville, AL - 4:15
4. 132 Robert Youngren, 35 from Huntsville, AL - 4:18
5. 6 Eric Charette, 34 from Huntsville, AL - 4:20
6. 10 Tim Vinson, 45 from Madison, AL - 4:22
7. 7 Kevin Boucher, 31 from Chattanooga, TN - 4:26
8. 9 Zachary Koch, 24 from Huntsville, AL - 4:29
9. 20 Michael Green, 40 from Chattanooga, TN - 4:30
10. 8 Carl Laniak, 28 from Arnoldsville, GA - 4:35
11. 103 Tony Laino, 36 from Shillington, PA - 4:35
12. 85 Vince Molosky, 30 from Tallahassee, FL - 4:40
13. 130 Blake Thompson, 28 from Fayetteville, TN - 4:42
14. 245 John Nevels, 23 from Decatur, AL - 4:45
15. 12 David Purinton, 41 from Huntsville, AL - 4:50
16. 13 Eric Schotz, 38 from Decatur, AL - 4:50
17. 283 Eric Gilbertson, 35 from Opelika, AL - 4:50
18. 18 Brett Addington, 32 from Owens X Roads, AL - 5:00
19. 22 Nils Pedersen, 40 from Kennesaw, GA - 5:00
20. 36 Matt Davies, 36 from Cleveland, TN - 5:00
21. 78 David O'Keefe, 36 from Owens Cross Roads, AL - 5:00
22. 136 Scott Cullen, 37 from Atlanta, GA - 5:00