WINCHENDON, Mass. – It’s not often that brothers Bill Tidd and John Tidd get to share a trail on race day.

The accomplished ultrarunners each have countless finishes on their resumes from the past decade-plus, but those results have mostly come on different continents. Bill Tidd lives in Alton Bay, N.H., while John Tidd resides in San Lorenzo de el Escorial, Spain. Their local trails and local ultras are on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The rare opportunity arrived for the brothers to share a course when they took on the fifth annual Race for DFL last person standing event, the final ultra of the season for Race Director Amy Rusiecki’s Beast Coast Trail Running Series on Nov. 11-12 at the Kenty Farm in Winchendon.

The rules of the event are pretty simple. The course measures in at 4.1666 miles long, and runners must complete a lap and return to the starting line by the time the next lap begins on the hour, every hour, until just one runner remains. That remaining runner must complete one more lap than anybody else, and complete it within the one-hour time limit. Otherwise, there are no official finishers.

Seventy-five runners took part in the race. Some were there to complete a handful of laps, tackle a personal goal for the day or achieve a personal-best distance. Others were there to vie for the victory – if one were ultimately to be attained. Forty-five runners completed at least seven laps for 29.2 miles of running, achieving ultra distance qualification. Scot Mente of Arlington, Mass., was among that group and made it his first ultra. Seven runners stopped at that point. Another seven of those runners retired after the eighth lap, ending their day after 33.3 miles while whittling the field of competitors to 31.

The remaining field shrunk considerably during the course of the next three hours as 12 more runners retired.

Hour number 12 was the final lap for Wallace Gaines of Tahoe City, Calif.; Alex Holman of Cambridge, Mass.; Chris Kibler of Saco, Maine; Matthew LePage of Westfield, Mass.; and Maximin Rocheleau of Winchendon, Mass., as all finished with an even 50 miles of running. Three more runners – Michael McDuffie of Amherst, Mass.; Bryant Hall of Boston, Mass.; and Christopher Barry of Keene, N.H. – finished after 13 hours and 54.2 miles of running. One lap later, it was Bryan Jones’ turn to withdraw as the West Hartford, Conn., resident completed 58.3 miles of running. That trimmed the field to 10.

Four runners – Louie Ruvolo of Turners Falls, Mass.; Sarah Nelson of Florence, Mass.; Mark Howard of Cranston, R.I.; and Robert Breckenridge of Keene, N.H. – lasted for 15 hours and 100K of distance before stopping. That dropped the field of contenders down to six. Another four hours passed before the field reduced again.

Tejas Ramdas was the next runner to end his day. The Somerville, Mass., resident closed out his first last person standing effort with a personal-best distance of 79.2 miles after 19 hours of running. One hour later, Randy Patrick of Spofford, N.H., joined Ramdas on the sideline after 20 hours and 83.3 miles. It was Patrick’s farthest run at a non-virtual event.

The field went down to four runners – the Tidd brothers, Jason Kaplan of Boston, Mass., and Bryce Spare of Adams, Mass. – and all four had victory on their minds. All four reached the 24-hour mark for 100 miles, and all four then returned to the starting line to officially begin a second day of racing.

Hour 25 was the last for Spare. His bid for a win ceased after 104.2 miles, and he watched Kaplan and the Tidd brothers toe the line for hour No. 26. Kaplan was the lone runner in the trio with backyard ultra experience, having won his first attempt at the format in September at the MetroWest Backyard Ultra when he went 17 hours and 71 miles. With at least 10 ultra finishes on his legs in 2023, including a 100-mile finish at the Ghost Train Trail Race in mid-October, fatigue finally caught up with Kaplan after 26 hours and 108.3 miles. It was his longest run ever, but this time it wasn’t quite enough for the win.

That left the Tidd brothers as the final runners remaining. They stepped to the starting line for hour No. 27, and once again completed the lap within the hour. They’d shared many miles together over the previous day-plus of running, but now they had a decision to make. Would they battle on and have one sibling be the victor, or would they finish this adventure together?

Rusiecki broke it down for them – the rules were clear; there would not be a champion if they both stopped with the same mileage. The brothers were ok with that; this had been a fun experience to share together, and they decided to end it together.

After 112.5 miles, the field officially went from two to zero. There were no official winners at the 2023 edition of the Race for DFL, though the Tidd brothers secured a memory they will cherish forever.

Four Runners Complete 12-Hour Event

In addition to the DFL race, a 12-hour option was offered for runners who wanted to log a specific time frame but not compete for the overall win. Two runners – Molly Fraher of Goshen, Conn., and Matthew Austin of Terryville, Conn. – set out to run 50 miles and successfully did so. For Fraher, it was her longest run ever. Additionally, Maria Zeija of Randolph, N.J., completed 33.3 miles and Christopher Krezmien of Colrain, Mass., finished 29.2 miles.