Boston runner scores new record at Vermont City Marathon

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Runners showed out this morning for this year’s marathon, albeit with ponchos.

Ryan Smith of Boston won the big men’s title this morning, even creating a new event record with his time of 2:15:52. Darius Parker of Putney was the top Vermonter. Kellyn Taylor of Sussex, Wisconsin was the top female runner, with a time of 2:35:18. The winner of the men’s Handcycle is Erik Corbitt of Conway, N.H., with the women’s winner as Devann Murphy of Keeseville, N.Y.

Since 1989, the marathon has been the biggest weekend for runners in Vermont.

More than 3,000 participants signed up this year, on par with recent years.

RunVermont put on the event. Youth program director Lauren Miller says this year, participation in the two-mile doubled.

“It’s a huge celebration of youth running and just Burlington community,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of smiles and energy and excitement.”

The event prides itself on being Vermont-first.

“If we can work with a Vermont company and get something sourced from Vermont, we want to both from the perspective of sustainability, the branding perspective, the transportation and admissions perspective, and there are so many cool companies in Vermont that are a part of this weekend,” said executive director Anthea Dexter-Cooper.

Channel 3 was out there too, the four-person relay called “WCAX Channel Sp33d” had Abigail Saxe, Sophia Thomas, John McMahon, and Lucy Caile.