Rotich, Nielsen cross the finish line first at 50th Annual Park Point 5-Miler

Milton Rotich and Julia Nielsen won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, at the 50th Annual Park Point 5-Miler held Thursday night in Duluth.

Rotich, who is from Kenya, finished with a time of 25:20. If that name sounds familiar, he also won this year’s Grandma’s Marathon title. Tonight, he became the first-ever person to claim victory at both Grandma’s Marathon and the Park Point 5-Miler. He was 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Lars Dewall.

Nielsen finished with a time of 31:15. She was just 16 seconds in front of the defending champion Melissa Gacek, who finished as this year’s runner-up. Nielsen will be a junior at UMD this year. She runs both cross country and track for the Bulldogs.

Winning the men’s title in the 2-Mile Walk division was Chris Hegg, from Grand Marais, with a time of 20:58. The women’s title went Sarah Godfrey, from Minneapolis, with a time of 22:50.

In total, 447 people (222 men, 225 women) participated on Thursday night in the 5-mile run, with another 66 (18 men, 48 women) participating in the 2-mile walk.