Local runners triumphed in the 24^th annual Ripton Ridge Run which was held on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011.  The first place finishers in the 5K run were both graduates of the Ripton ElementarySchool and the winners of the 10K event also were from Addison County. For the second year in a row, Ripton’s Jennifer Cyr led the women’s 5K run with a time of 24:46.8; Miles Zwicky of Ripton paced the men in 19:27.3.  Tony Bates of Salisbury headed the field in the 10K with a time of 40:28.3 while Nicole Wilkerson of Middlebury was the first woman across the 10K finish line in 46:11.0.

Beautiful foliage and warm sunny weather greeted the 190 runners and walkers who turned out for the event, an annual benefit for the Ripton Elementary School.  Truly a family and community event, there were participants from age 2-80.  The oldest runner was 80-year old Don Lacharite, a regular participant from Winooski,and the youngest runner was 7-year old Phoebe Hussey.  There were other, still younger participants who went the distance by stroller.  The Ripton Ridge Run also includes a 400-meter fun run for young children.  24 children participated in that event, most of them enrolled in Ripton’s Primary and Pre-K units – future winners of the longer events.