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| Still cruising...at mile 1. |
Once a year, Huntsville hosts not only the state's oldest and largest, but in my opinion also the most technically challenging ultra marathon in the Southeast. Yes, Mount Cheaha 50K has more elevation gain and yes, Stump Jump and Georgia Jewel have a "rock garden", but mile for mile, the Mist has them beat when it comes to gnarly technical terrain for almost the entire 31 miles except maybe the first 3 miles. Am I biased, hell yeah! This race is literally in my backyard and by that I mean it is less than a mile behind my house (as the crow flies) and I have run it a total of 7 times with my streak only broken for one year in 2013, when I had to take a year off due to a bit of an injury and a health scare. Alas, i have to run 3 more times to earn that coveted black jacket for finishing 10 editions of the Mountain Mist. It's our local version of the PGA's green jacket and I dare say it means more to most local ultra runners than that as well. That is to say, Mountain Mist is more than just another ultra. This race has more multi time finishers than any other race I've ever participated in. Folks keep coming back from near and far, year after year, to reconnect with friends and to toe the starting line and cross the finish line one more time, again and again.
