Tom Flummerfelt has been running trail ultramarathons for more than 20 years, including rugged mountain races all over the world such as the Tor des Geants 330K in Italy, the Moab 240 in Utah, and the Racing the Planet Iceland 250K. All of those adventures gave the 52-year-old plenty of experience to tap into when needed at the second annual 12-Hours of Lawrence Woods on Saturday, July 18, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Medford, Mass. But Flummerfelt had another asset he could tap into, and this one was possibly even greater: home trail advantage.

Flummerfelt lives in Winchester, Mass., which abuts the Middlesex Fells, so he has run there regularly for years. He knows the trails inside and out, including the lesser used Lawrence Woods section where the race took place. Ultimately, Flummerfelt put his experience and local knowledge to work and parlayed them into a victory and course record, but it didn’t come easy. Anthony Ryan made Flummerfelt work hard for it.

Though relatively new to ultras–Ryan completed his first official ultramarathon just four months ago–the 19-year-old from New Milford, Conn., didn’t race like a rookie. That’s because he has amassed quite a bit of experience in a short period of time. Since finishing seventh overall in the Enchanted Forest 6-Hour in March (32.2 miles), Ryan has finished fourth at the Forgotten Forest 9-Hour (46.2 miles), second at the Ansonia Six Hour (35 miles), ninth at the Centurion Ultra Trail Event 33-Hour (100 miles), and first at both the Red Wing Trail Challenge 60K and The Revolution 12-Hour (64.1 miles), so there was good reason to see Ryan racing near the front. In fact, Ryan was at–or near–the front for the majority of the day as he, Flummerfelt, and 29-year-old Daniel Gorelik of Cambridge, Mass., pushed the pace. As the day wore on and the hours piled up, the trio gradually separated from most of the 54-runner field as they circled the 4.2-mile loop course over and over again with Ryan at the front.

Though Ryan was in the lead, his advantage didn’t last. Flummerfelt reeled him in late in the day and closed strong to secure the victory with a 63.0-mile performance. Ryan soon joined him at the finish line and matched the mileage tally while placing second. Gorelik followed in third place overall with 58.8 miles.

The female field saw a similarly close battle play out throughout the day as the trio of Nicole Souza, Libbi Gaiser and Laura Caplan all were in close contact for the duration of the day, and that remained the case all the way to the finish. Ultimately, all three women completed 54.6 miles–one loop shy of the course record. Souza, 45, of Stonington, Conn., got it done first, though, and earned the win, followed by Caplan, 42, of Astoria, N.Y., and Gaiser, 59, of Hull, Mass. The race marked the first ultramarathon finishes for both Souza and Caplan. For Gaiser, whose first ultra came in October 2025 at the Womp Romp 50K, it was her longest run ever and best finish.

Thirty-one runners completed at least 29.4 miles and earned ultramarathon finishes. The top 17 runners all completed at least 10 laps and 42 miles.