106 Miles, One Hug, One Big Party — Owenreay Finishes Last at Mid South, Gets Biggest Celebration
All Bodies on Bikes athlete completes first-ever century ride after battling asthma, a 20-mile nosebleed, and a depleted water supply
When Kristen Owenreay rounded the last corner into downtown Stillwater on Saturday night, she could hear the party before she could see it. She stopped to hug Crystal Wintle, who was stationed at the turn, took a breath, and then rolled into the chute.
Waiting for her was a live band, a cheering crowd, cameras, and the biggest trophy at the race.
Owenreay, 41, of Sweet Home, Oregon, crossed the Mid South finish line at 11:28 p.m. Saturday, completing 106.2 miles in 15 hours, 28 minutes, and 48 seconds. She finished 1,070th overall among 1,131 amateur 100-mile finishers — and earned the title the race reserves for its final rider home: the DFL (Dead F***ing Last).
The DFL title carries weight at The Mid South. Since the race's founding in 2013 as Land Run 100, co-founders Bobby and Crystal Wintle have treated the last finisher with the same reverence as the first. Bobby Wintle has made it a personal tradition to be at the finish line for every rider.
For more than a decade, that final finisher has also received the event's largest piece of hardware: a longhorn steer skull, horns intact, awarded to no one else at the entire race. The tradition began in 2016 with a cow skull. The following year, it was upgraded to a skull complete with longhorns — and has remained that way ever since.
Kristen Owenreay laughs as champagne rains down on her at the Mid South finish line in the moments after completing the 106.2-mile amateur race (top left). Owenreay takes in the scene as the crowd Bobby and Crystal Wintle have built around the DFL finish surrounds her with cheers and phone cameras while champagne continues to fly (top right). Owenreay poses with Mid South co-founder Bobby Wintle, whose commitment to celebrating every finisher — first to last — has made the DFL arrival one of the most anticipated moments of the entire race weekend (bottom left). Crystal Wintle smiles while holding a bouquet of wildflowers gathered for Owenreay, a reflection of the personal touches the Wintles have woven into the DFL tradition (bottom right). – Photos by Chris Peters
But 2026 brought something new to the finish line chute — a live performance of a song written specifically for this moment.
Belle & The Vertigo Waves, an indie/hard rock band based in Kansas City, Missouri, released a single titled "DFL" on Feb. 28, 2025. Belle Scott, the band's singer and songwriter, drew inspiration from her experience performing on The Mid South's music stage in 2024. Watching how the race honored its late-night finishers, and learning that the final rider home earned the DFL title, became the creative foundation for the song.
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The original plan was to debut "DFL" live in 2025, with cameras rolling as the DFL rider crossed the line. Wildfires on March 14, 2025 — the date that year's race was scheduled — forced cancellation and pushed the moment back by a year.
On Saturday, after completing their main set on the Kicker Soundstage at Block 34, the band moved their equipment to the finish line chute. They set up a rug in the middle of the road and played on, covering other songs while the crowd waited. When Jeep headlights appeared in the distance — a signal that Owenreay was making her final approach — the band launched into "DFL." Surrounded by a cheering, dancing crowd, with cameras rolling, Owenreay came down the chute.
Belle & The Vertigo Waves perform during their main set on the Kicker Soundstage at Block 34 (top left) before moving their equipment to the Mid South finish line chute to await the arrival of the 2026 DFL finisher. The longhorn skull trophy rests on the pavement of the finish line chute as the crowd gathers and the band plays (top right). Singer and songwriter Belle Scott performs alongside husband and bandmate Jeremiah Scott in the street as the wait continues (bottom left), while the band's drummer Elliott Holt keeps the crowd energized in the moments before Kristen Owenreay rolled down the chute to claim the title (bottom right). Scott wrote "DFL" after watching the Mid South celebrate its late-night finishers during the band's 2024 appearance at the race. – Photos by Chris Peters
Getting to that moment required more than endurance.
Owenreay left her asthma inhaler at her hotel Saturday morning. The cold air at the start of the race triggered an attack she managed for the entire day. A nosebleed started and persisted for nearly 20 miles. She missed the second rest stop, ran out of water entirely, and had to call the Jeep rescue crew for help. The crew emptied every water bottle they had in the vehicle to resupply her. On Bovine Pass — a stretch of single-track and double-track on private land that represents the course's most technically demanding terrain, reached deepest in the dark — those same crew members stayed behind her, their headlights illuminating the way through.
"I would not have made it here without them," Owenreay said. "They lit my way the whole way."
Before Saturday, Owenreay's longest ride was approximately 70 miles on pavement, completed about two years ago. She had never completed a century — 100 miles — in any form.
Owenreay is a member of the All Bodies on Bikes Mid South team. All Bodies on Bikes, co-founded in 2021 by Marley Blonsky and Kailey Kornhauser, advocates for body-size inclusive communities in cycling. Blonsky, the organization's executive director, was on hand at the finish.
"It's so full circle," Blonsky said. "We've really built this really cool community, and just to see her perseverance and the dedication — yeah."
Owenreay is the third consecutive All Bodies on Bikes athlete to claim the DFL. Blonsky herself took the title in 2023. Beth McBride, 52, of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, claimed it in 2024, finishing 1,213th out of 1,216 finishers in 16 hours, 19 minutes, and 54 seconds. The race did not take place in 2025 due to the wildfires.
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For Owenreay, the knowledge that a celebration was waiting — and that no time limit stood between her and the finish — made the difference.
"Knowing that there was going to be this party, knowing that there was no time limit, knowing that there were people out on course who were going to take care of me and keep me safe — that made me feel comfortable to keep going," she said. "And I don't know that I would have otherwise."
She paused for a hug at the edge of town before rolling into the chute. Two miles from the finish, she said, was the first moment she allowed herself to believe she would make it.
"I think this race does an amazing job of supporting every rider from the first one to the last one," she said.
📸 See photos from The Mid South 2026 DFL finish line party
The Stillwegian Lightbox | DFL Party
Gallery: DFL Party on The Stillwegian Lightbox
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