Dylan Glass started up the Sinks Trail on his second Dizzy Fifties 50K loop with a steady jog before throttling into low gear for the main ascent to the finish line. It wasn’t that he was tired or had any issues. With experience comes wisdom, and memories of last year helped him be smarter in his Dizzy win Saturday morning at Monte Sano State Park.
“After the first two laps last year I kinda blew up because I went out too hard and they got me,” said Glass, who lives in Gurley and owns Return2Sport PT & Performance. “I think I finished about 5:08 or something like that last year. That wasn’t my goal and wasn’t what I wanted to do. So, this year I wanted to be more consistent and be faster, and I hit my goals.”
Glass actually did better than that, finishing in 4:22 and setting his personal best for trail or road 50K. He had a goal of 4:30 if everything went well, and it did. His time was on par with James Ebert’s winning time from 2023.
“I just tried to stay even-paced throughout the run,” Glass said. “It felt good through two loops and then I got a little crampy on the front half of the third. So I uppped my salt intake a little and felt better for the final part. It was perfect weather, too, and not too hot to create dehydration issues.
“I power-walked up Warpath and Sinks, just a steady walk up to keep the heart rate from going bonkers,” Glass said, taking a cue from his blowup last year. “Everything else was runable and good, pretty much. It was a good day.”
Malia Gill of Madison won the women’s division with a time of 5:16. She was fourth overall, and also consistent on all three loops. Gill completed the Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach on Nov. 1, finishing 177th overall and 8th in her division.
About Dizzy Fifties
— The field had 112 entrants including from Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana.
— The field did not 112 official finishers, as a handful of runners dropped out after one or two of the 10-mile loops. Some use Dizzy as a training run, winter trails kickoff or other. A few dive into it for their first 50k and a couple of laps zaps them. Official finishers of all three laps numbered 77 in the final standings.
— Race Director Clay Self added a few wiggles and woggles on the course route this year. Runners departed the Scoble Pavilion (biker’s pavilion) and did 6 miles on the southern park trails. These included Firetower, Goat, Mist, Bucca, South Plateau and a little toodle up Warpath Ridge. This portion ended at the biker’s lot, where runners could return to the pavilion for more aid or keep going.
The second part, about 4 miles, took them to the overlook and down Bankhead to the Sinks trail. From there the runners enjoyed Sinks, a jaunt almost to Logan Point, back around Keith Trail and up Sinks to the finish.
— This is the 21st Dizzy Fifties 50K. Chad Davis of Huntsville won the inaugural event in 3:56:16. That is 10th on the all-time records list for the event. Some other notable names from that first one include Marty Clarke, Dave Purinton and Steve Carter of Huntsville, Todd Henderson of Sylacauga and Janice Anderson of Georgia. Many of these, and others, also can be found in the Mountain Mist results from the last three decades.
— The inaugural Dizzy Fifties also included a 40-mile option, won by Dewayne Satterfield of Huntsville. It had four finishers including Sherry Meador of Harpersville. She was the only woman to finish. The 50-mile race was won by Dink Taylor of Huntsville, and also had four finishers.
The 50- and 40-mile events were held from 2004-16.
— The event was put on by Huntsville Track Club, with sponsors including Marco’s Pizza, Fleet Feet and First National Bank of Fayetteville.
MAIN PHOTO: Dylan Glass heads to the Dizzy Fifties 50K finish line Saturday morning at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville. (Photo by Alan Clemons/TVO)
TOP 50 RESULTS BELOW
