JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tens of thousands of runners, volunteers and spectators turned out early Saturday for the 33rd Annual Gate River Run.

It's a tale of two races -- the national championship 15K race that draws athletes from around the world for $58,000 in prizes -- and Jacksonville's largest participatory sporting event, where the vast majority of the 13,423 registered participants are recreational runners.

In the competitive event, American men and women won first place, with Mohamed Trafeh, of Los Angeles, crossing the finish line in 42:58 -- nearly a full minute ahead of his closest competitors.

"Knowing the guys, they have really good speed at the end ... so my strategy was to get out fast," Trafeh told Channel 4's Sam Kouvaris.

Katie McGregor, of St. Louis Park, Minn., took the women's title, crossing in 49:50. She had finished second in the race the past two years.

"I've been coming here for years. I always have a great race here, but I've never been able to win," McGregor said after catching her breath. "It was just a great day."

Trafeh and McGregor each earn $12,000 for the win.

The top local finishers in the nation's largest 15K race were Owen Shott in 50:13 and Jolene Williams in 54:06.

There were so many runners in the field, it took more than eight minutes for all the people to cross the start line, but a computer chip in their shoe laces will start the clock when they enter the race course.

"The people all around you cheer you the whole way," said Eric Prosswimmer, a Jacksonville firefighter who runs the course wearing 40 pounds of bunker gear. "They're constantly patting you on the back saying, 'Way to go.'"

For the first time in running of the 15K, there were more women than men registered, but about 100 more men completed the course.

With a 5K run/walk, a 1-mile Junior River Run and diaper dashes and a runners' expo, more than 20,000 people participated in one of the events Saturday morning. Race director Doug Alred said this was a record crowd and the eighth consecutive year of growth for the event.

To make the race more interesting for spectators and elite runners, the top-seeded woman start five minutes before the top-seeded men and the first person to cross the finish line just north of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium will get a $5,000 equalizer bonus. That has happened only once in the history of the race.

The elite runners -- including nine Olympians and five former Gate River Run champions -- all completed the course in under 44 minutes for the men and 50 minute for the women.