About 12 miles into the 31st Mountain Mist 50K Saturday morning, James Outland called his father in Birmingham for a quick facetime visit. That milepoint is on the descent to Oak Park and the first aid station, after the opening 14ish miles of the race. Those miles are on the north-east-ish (lot of -ish with this event) side of Monte Sano, runnable and fast this weekend thanks to dry albeit chilly conditions.
Outland, 23, lives in Clarkesville, Tenn., and is in the Army at Fort Campbell. He’s currently training as part of a team for the Best Ranger Competition in April. The call to his father, about 90ish minutes into the run, was to say hey and, well, he was doing pretty well on this 50K trail thing. If his father wanted to drive up to be at the finish line, that would be cool.
Dad arrived in time to see his son — who never has done a 50K or run more than 17 miles at one time — cross the finish line. Not just cross it, but cheered as the 2025 Mountain Mist champion. Outland tapped the mat in 4:28:55, a super time for the challenging event and especially for someone making his 50K debut.
Outland won by seven minutes, with Max Simpson finishing second in 4:35:55. Brandon Sullivan was third, in 4:38:40.
Luci Searels, 31, of Chattanooga claimed the women’s Mist title, finishing in 5:32:05. She was 32nd overall, also in her debut at the event. Rachel Biber-Brewer was second (36th) in 5:35:38. Jenny Simpson was third (43rd) in 5:43:06. Simpson was making her ultra trail debut. She has a storied background as an Olympic medalist and 11-time record-holder in the 1500- and 3000-meter distances.
About 520 runners were registered. Weather conditions were great, about 25 degrees at the 7 a.m. start with bright sun and gentle breezes. Temperatures doubled during the day.
Mountain Mist takes place on more than 30 miles of trails in Monte Sano State Park and the Land Trust of North Alabama. Trails were firm and dry, with only a few wet spots here and there. Runners were treated to ice formations in several areas, including the climb up Waterline.
‘It Was Fun’
Outland and his Army teammates from Fort Campbell needed some hilly, rugged, woodsy training for the upcoming Ranger Competition. They figured Mountain Mist would be a good test. They’re in 101st Airborne and have been to Ranger School. The competition is three days, with two teams from each unit competing in events covering about 70 miles.
“A bunch of us came here to run this ultra, just to practice, like, fueling, and see how it feels being on your feet for a long time,” he said. “This definitely was a good thing. It was beautiful and the views the whole time were great. I got stuck looking out a few times, which is why I fell, but it was fun. Pretty technical, too. I think I rolled my ankles maybe 20 times each.”
Outland said his previous long run was about 17 miles — a week ago. He enjoyed the day and figures now he’ll do some more events when possible.
“My teammates all told me, like, just watch all the old people are going to pass you the whole time,” he said, laughing.
Huntsville Slam Champs
Dylan Glass of Gurley defended his Huntsville Slam title Saturday at Mountain Mist in a record time, while Malia Gill of Madison won her first.
Glass finished seventh overall in 4:53:08. His four-event Slam aggregate was 16:16, more than two hours faster than his 2023 title time. Glass is the second Slam repeat champ in the last three years. Tyson Jouglet of Huntsville won in 2022-23, with the Nos. 1 and 2 times of 16:43 and 17:17.
Glass smashed the Slam record by almost 30 minutes, putting his name in the Top 10 list for the second time. His efforts Saturday on the Mist course resulted in his second-fastest 50K time and an event PR.
Gill finished Mountain Mist in 5:44:24, fourth in the women’s division and 48th overall. She won the Slam crown in 19:33, which is No. 2 on the women’s Top 10 list.
The women’s battle was tight, with Gill pursued by Emily Crispi and Katie Venckus. All three were T10 finishers, with Venckus clipping Crispi by more than four minutes for ninth place. But Crispi held the better Slam aggreate, and finished second in it in 20:24 while Venckus was third in 20:44.
(Note: results are unofficial and will be updated, if needed)
Slam competitors compete in Mountain Mist along with the Dizzy Fifties 50K, Rocket City Marathon and Recover From the Holidays 50K. The first three are in late November and December. That’s an average of 17.5 days apart to do 120 miles in a variety of weather conditions and courses.
The events include 26.2 miles on asphalt, 62 on trails and 31 on the John Hunt Park cross country grass course.
RESULTS: See the results of the 31st Mountain Mist 50K here, including splits at Oak Park at about 14ish miles
