Runners of a variety of ages and abilities ran the trails at Fairfield Hills for the annual Rooster Run, on a comfortable June 18 morning. Temperatures were in the low 70s and the sun beamed down as competitors, led by race winner Kevin Hoyt and top female finisher Sarah Mawdsley, completed the 5K course. Proceeds from the race benefit the Newtown Scholarship Association.Plattsys Timing webpage

Hoyt, 25, finished in a time of 16:23, and was followed by five Newtown/Sandy Hook participants. Christopher Gamble, 19, was runner-up in 17:36; Christian Lestik, 16, placed third in a time of 17:50; Ryan Escoda, 16, came in fourth in 17:15; Jordan Klein, 16, was fifth in 18:39; and Jordan Hansel, 21, came across the finish line in sixth place with a time of 18:49.

East Hampton's Ryan Goyen, 25, was seventh in 19:01; Dylan Lew, 17, and Dylan Bartlett, 16, both of Newtown, were eighth and ninth, respectively, with times of 19:08 and 19:22; and Sandy Hook's Joey Conrod, 17, rounded out the top ten with a time of 19:30. Mawdsley, 17, also of Sandy Hook, was 16th overall, finishing in 20:24.

Both Hoyt and Mawdsley, always among the top runners in the area, are getting back into running after lulls in the action. For Hoyt, this was his first race since he ran a late-April 5K in New York. Mawdsley last competed in the high school state championship three weeks ago.

"It was a kind of painful," said Mawdsley, bringing credence to the old saying no pain, no gain.

"The weather was optimal - it was great," Mawdsley added. "It was a very well-shaded course."

"Temperature-wise, it was very nice," Hoyt added.

Among the participants were members of the Run 169 Towns Society, a group of unique runners who are working toward running road races in each of Connecticut's 169 towns/cities. The group includes Newtown's Sandhya Sridhar, who has gotten to races in 40 towns.

"I keep running Newtown because I live here. I like to support my local town," Sridhar said.

"It's an awesome community," Sridhar said of the group, which has a bizarre tradition of wearing tutus to celebrate the milestone of reaching the 100 town mark. "It's just a fun thing to do."

For Run 169 Towns Society member Bruno Pasqualucci, of Beacon Falls, the Rooster Run was his 100th, so he wore a tutu. As part of the tradition, other group members who previously hit the town century mark also may wear tutus. Among those was Monroe's Brian Walker, who has raced in 168 towns and will complete the mission in September when he laces up the running shoes for a September race in Ashford.

For complete race results, visit the

Top division results from the Rooster Run are as follows:

Overall female: 1. Mawdsley. 2. Riley Powers, 10, 21:23. 3. Shawna Nickerson, 34, 22:52.

Female 12 and under: 1. Lauren Jacobs, 10, 24:31. 2. Britta Petersen, 9, 25:31. 3. Isabel Cadoff, 12, 27:25.

Female 13-19: 1. Katy Cassetta , 15, 23:43. 2. Madeleine Albee, 16, 23:54. 3. Victoria Teixeira, 17, 23:54.

Female 20-29: 1. Emily Ashbolt, 22, 23:23. 2. Angela Ross, 21, 33:01. 3. Macy Holdcraft, 22, 36:50.

Female 30-39: 1. Lindsay Fenton, 32, 25:00. 2. Erika Sandy, 38, 25:17. 3. Kori Pierce, 37, 25:55.

Female 40-49: 1. Julie Zaniewski, 41, 24:28. 2. Krista Benson, 45, 24:34. 3. Megan Thompson, 48, 25:09.

Female 50-59: 1. Lori Riley, 51, 25:36. 2. Kelly Urso, 50, 26:10. 3. Frances Ashbolt, 55, 26:11.

Female 60-69: 1. Elizabeth Eaton, 74, 39:57. 2. Rita Kelley, 71, 43:27.

Male 12 and under: 1. Matt Jacobs, 12, 20:15. 2. Andrew Jacobs , 12, 20:17. 3. Jake Gonski, 12, 20:26.

Male 13-19: 1. Escoda. 2. Klein. 3. Lew. Male 20-29: 1. Hansel. 2. Goyen. 3. Stephen Ashbolt, 25, 23:23.

Male 30-39: 1. Tom Marks, 37, 21:47. 2. Matthew Lundy, 33, 23:50. 3. Mark Endres, 37, 25:01.

Male 40-49: 1. Kevin Stawiasz, 49, 21:27. 2. Jon Campbell, 40, 22:46. 3. Brian Comstock, 41, 22:53.

Male 50-59: 1. Manoel Leal , 59, 19:39. 2. David Conrod. 51, 19:52. 3. David Oelberg, 52, 20:11.

Male 60-69: 1. Robert Alling, 67, 23:06. 2. Evan Pitkoff, 60, 24:09. 3. Walker, 63, 25:42.

Male 70 and over: 1. Richard Saunders, 71, 36:13. 2. Albert Klucsik, 71, 45:59.