JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Records fell Saturday morning as nearly 14,000 runners pounded the streets of downtown and San Marco in the 30th annual Gate River Run.

For the first time a woman, Deena Kastor, won the Equalizer Challenge, and Meb Keflezighi won the 15K title for the sixth time -- also a record -- with time of 43:40.

"I was running scared every step of the way," said Kastor, 34, to first woman to cross the finish line first and receive a $5,000 bonus. "It was going to hard effort right from the start in order to win today."

Keflezighi, 31, said wasn't chasing Kastor wasn't an issue. He's content to win another American 15K men's title in a field of five U.S. Olympians.

"Whenever you have a national championship, you know you're going to have a great race," Keflezighi said. "I was hanging on for dear life at the beginning, but the faster pace, the better for me."

Keflezighi was one of five U.S. Olympians on the 9.3-mile run through the streets of downtown and San Marco.

The top runners competed for the 2007 USA 15K National Championship title and a piece of the $65,000 prize purse.

For the most of the 11,326 runners -- also a record -- who crossed the finish line, completing the course is the main goal.

"We wanted to just finish it," said Dawn Hennessey as she finished her first River Run. "I wanted to get up the bridge, and not walk it -- and I did."

"I wanted to do better, but the bridge caught me," said five-time finisher Phillip Clark, who called his 68-minute finish decent. "I do a lot of race training and I still have trouble every time I go on the Hart Bridge."

Race organizers and community members celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Gate River Run.

Hundreds of supporters lined the streets and cheered on the runners, with water stations and live bands posted at every mile of the course.

The top local finishers were Justin Jacobs, 23, in 49:53, and Kim Pawelek, 31, in 54:33. Both are from Jacksonville.

The field for the men's race was a much-anticipated rematch between 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Keflezighi, of San Diego, the defending and five-time USA 15K champion, and Ryan Hall, of Big Bear Lake, Calif., the 2007 USA Half-Marathon champion and U.S. record holder at that distance.

While Hall led the first 5K, Keflezighi began to pull away at the 5.5 mile mark and never looked back.

Keflezighi and Hall were joined in Jacksonville by 2007 USA Half-Marathon Championship runner-up Fasil Bizuneh, of Flagstaff, Ariz., and 2005 national 15K champion Ryan Shay of East Jordan, Mich.

The women's field featured 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Kastor, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. A four-time USA 15K champion, Kastor will return to Jacksonville for the first time since 2003, when she set the current U.S. and USA Championship record of 47:15.

Her unofficial finish Saturday was 47:20 -- just three seconds behind the course record she set in 2003.

"It was a little warm to be hitting record paces today," Kastor said.

The Team Running USA athlete will face-off against defending champion Blake Russell (Marina, Calif.) and 2004 Olympic Marathon teammate and two-time USA 15K champion Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.). The trio also will likely see challenges for the title by 2007 USA Half-Marathon champion Elva Dryer (Gunnison, Colo.) and two-time USA 10K champion Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The Equalizer Bonus awards $5,000 to the first male or female to cross the finish line, with the top-seeded women beginning five minutes before the men. The five-minute "head start" is based on the time differential of the U.S. 15K records: 42:22 for the men (Todd Williams, 1995) and 47:15 for the women (Deena Drossin-Kastor, 2003), both set on the Gate River Run course.

Additional bonuses of $10,000 were offered for a World Record (41:29 - men; 46:55 - women); $5,000 for a U.S. record (42:22 - men; 47:15 - women) and $3,000 for a course record (42:22 - men; 47:15 - women).