For more than two decades, the last Saturday morning before Halloween in Burlington's North End has belonged to a different kind of race: one where a seven-year-old in a sheet-ghost costume and a sixty-year-old in a witch hat share the same starting line, and where the finish-line prizes are as likely to go to the best costume as to the fastest legs. On Saturday, October 24, Rock Point School hosts the 22nd annual Ooky Spooky 5k, a family-friendly Halloween run and walk whose proceeds go entirely to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter.
The format is simple and stubbornly unchanged. Day-of registration opens at 9 a.m. at the school, 1 Rock Point Road, and the race kicks off at 9:30. Registration is $15 per person, and participants can run or walk the course, which winds through the Rock Point property, out along the Burlington bike path, and onto North Beach. Treats are handed out to participants, prizes go to the top three finishers, and there are separate awards for the best costumes. Runners of all ages are welcome, and those who would rather spectate can join a fun walk that follows the race and takes in the property. Advance registration is available online through Eventbrite, and anyone who wants to give more can make an additional donation directly to COTS.
The course itself is the reason the race feels different from a standard road 5k. Rock Point is a wooded peninsula jutting into Lake Champlain about two miles north of downtown Burlington, and the school's campus sits on 146 acres owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont. The route is an all-terrain affair, mixing trails, pavement and sand, and it shows off a stretch of shoreline that many Burlington residents rarely see up close.
The setting comes with a deep history. The school's main building, Bishop Hopkins Hall, was built in 1888 as a finishing school for girls, funded in part by a challenge grant from John P. Howard, who offered the diocese $20,000 toward construction if it could raise $40,000 to match. The money came in, and the school opened its doors on September 19, 1888, to a crowd of diocesan notables. Its chapel holds a set of stained-glass windows depicting the conception, birth, death and afterlife of Christ; a Burlington restorer has rated their quality among the finest he has seen in a forty-year career, though no one has ever established who made them. Rock Point School as it operates today dates its mission to 1928, and it now serves as a small, co-ed boarding and day school for students who have struggled to find their place in more traditional schools, many of them navigating anxiety, ADHD or learning differences.
That institutional identity is part of why the race exists. "At Rock Point School, community service is central to our mission, and we believe that supporting our local community strengthens the community as a whole," said C.J. Spirito, the head of school, in announcing this year's event. Spirito has been the steady hand behind Ooky Spooky for years; school notices from past editions directed questions about the race to him directly. "We are proud to continue supporting COTS through hosting Ooky Spooky each year and contributing to their essential mission of providing support and services to those experiencing homelessness in the region."
The beneficiary has its own origin story, and it is a stark one. COTS was founded on Christmas Eve in 1982 by a group of concerned Burlington citizens with a single goal: keeping people from freezing to death outdoors overnight. That first effort, the Waystation, opened its doors that night with volunteers on hand to welcome anyone who needed shelter, and the administration of then-mayor Bernie Sanders was instrumental in making it happen. From that one winter-night emergency, COTS grew into a regional organization providing shelter, services and housing support, including a seasonal winter warming shelter and what the organization describes as the only daytime drop-in shelter in its county.
"COTS is a grateful recipient of this joyful community fundraiser," said Rebekah Mott, COTS director of development and communications. "The support provided each year by the Rock Point School Ooky Spooky 5k goes a long way to help our neighbors experiencing homelessness find housing and stability."
Twenty-two years in, the race has become a small local institution, the kind of event where the same families return each October and where the costume competition carries real weight. Past editions have drawn racers from age seven to sixty, in every manner of getup. It is, by design, a low-stakes morning: fifteen dollars, a costume if you have one, a walk if you would rather not run, and a course that ends near the water.
For anyone planning to take part, the practical details are straightforward. The race is Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Rock Point School, 1 Rock Point Road in Burlington. Day-of registration runs from 9 to 9:30 a.m., the 5k starts at 9:30, and the event wraps up by about 10:30. Parking is free. Costumes are encouraged, though not required, and proceeds support COTS and its work with people experiencing homelessness in the Burlington area.