      Chadron native Phil Duncan returned home Saturday to win the Rotary Colter Run 5-kilometer race for the 6th time in the last 9 racesÂ
The Colter Run, a fixture of Chadron’s Fur Trade Days for some 4 decades, drew about 125 runners for its 4 races – the men’s and women’s 5K and 10K.
Duncan, who ran cross country and track for both Chadron High School and Chadron State College, now lives in Fremont, where he helps coach distance runners at Midland University.
Melanie Sterkel of Gordon was the women’s 10-k winner for the second year in a row, but the winners of the other two major races were new this year.
Grace Pyle, who will be a junior at Chadron High this fall, won the women’s 5-k race, edging another member of the Cardinals’ cross country and distance corps, Micaiah Fuller, for top honors.
The men’s 10-k winner was Billy Petrack of Lincoln. It was the first time he had entered Colter Run, but he’s familiar with Chadron because his late grandparents, Bill and Leah Hartman, lived in Chadron most of their lives.
The Rotary Colter Run drew about 125 participants this year, according to Ben Watson, spokesman for the run organizer, the Chadron Rotary Club.