14,000+ conquer 15K in 40th Gate River Run

Leonard Korir wins 15K championship in 43:22

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 17,000 runners -- from hundreds of elite athletes competing for the nation's 15K title to thousands of local joggers who have trained for the longest race of their lives -- ran the streets and bridges of Jacksonville Saturday morning in the 40th Gate River Run. Unofficial results showed 14,230 people between the ages of 5 and 97 completed the 9.3 miles.

“This is the Olympics for the common person,” said Keith Brantley, News4Jax's race commentator who was a 1996 Olympian and elite long-distance runner for three decades.

Olympian Leonard Korir, 30, a full-time Army soldier from Colorado Springs, was the fastest man and Jordan Hasay, 25, of Portland, Oregon, was the fastest woman on the course.

In addition to the fastest runners in the world competing for at least $65,000 in prize money, thousands of local runners were going for a personal best time or just to complete the nation's largest 15K run and Jacksonville's largest participatory sporting event.

Up to 41 people on the course, nicknamed Streakers, ran the River Run for the 40th time. There were also 1,385 more women than men completing the course.

FINISHERS: Times by time, gender, age
FINISH LINE CAM: 1st hour | 2nd hour
SLIDESHOW: Images of 2017 Gate River Run
uSHARE: Viewers' River Run photos, videos
SOCIAL MEDIA: A running conversation

Korir and other members of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, led the men's field as a pack for most of the course and passed Hasay and other of the fastest women in the race coming down the Hart Bridge, within the last half-mile of the race. Korir crossed the finish line at 43:22 -- the day's best run but a full minute beyond the course record set in 1995.

UNCUT: Sam Kouvaris interviews winners

"I wasn't sure where to make a move," Korir said. He was thinking: "If I'm going to have a good kick at the end, I might be able to pull out a win."

Hasay, who is training for the Boston Marathon, crossed the finish line six seconds later due to the women's equalizer six-minute head-start. Her winning 15K time was 49:28.

"The goal for me was just to sit in the pack and then make a move late, either on the uphill or downhill," Hasay said. "They told me the men were coming, coming, coming, and I was just going as fast as I could. There's nothing I could do, but I'm thankful for the win."

Runners were cheered on by family, friends and strangers lining the course from downtown, across the Main Street Bridge, through San Marco and St. Nicholas and over the Hart Bridge back to the Sports Complex. Hundreds of volunteers manned water stations and 15 bands providing inspirational music along the way.

All 15K finishers received a medal.

In addition to the 15K, a few thousand others took part in the Florida Times-Union 5K Run and Walk for Charity, the Brooks Rehab Challenge Mile, the Junior River Run, or Diaper Dashes for children under 4.

For more on the run and its history, visit our News4Jax Gate River Run special section.