Ryan Place was an All-American 5K runner at Allegheny College, but he had never participated in a competitive 10K run before yesterday's 31st annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race.

Even still, the 23-year-old recent graduate liked his chances after he checked out the 2007 results. Last year, Daniel Mazzocco won the men's race in 30 minutes, 37 seconds.

"I thought I could hang around that time," Place said. "I had run 30, 40 minutes during my training. I wasn't uncomfortable out there."

While he fell just short of matching Mazzocco's time, Place won yesterday's race in 30 minutes, 45 seconds. The Meadville resident crossed the finish line at Point State Park five seconds ahead of Joey Zins, 29, of Indiana.

"It was a very cool, neat experience," Place said. "Running through the city was very exciting."

With 7,250 registered for the 10K run and 4,343 for the 5K run and walk, yesterday's turnout of 11,593 was the largest for the Great Race since 1990.

The 10K race started in Frick Park at Beechwood Boulevard in Squirrel Hill with overcast skies and the temperature in the low 60s.

Place became the race's leader at around the halfway point of the 6.2-mile course after passing Kenneth Foster, 22, of Brookville, who had been in front from the starting line. Foster finished fourth.

While Place never relinquished the lead, he was challenged over the final three miles by Zins, a former distance runner at Georgia Tech University.

"I felt him catching me, so I really hammered home that last mile," Place said.

Zins, who also was running in his first Great Race, just made it to the starting line after yesterday's turnout produced long lines of people downtown waiting to catch shuttle buses.

After making his way to the front, Zins said he was eventually hurt by the layout of the course, which was primarily downhill toward the end of the race.

"I'm not a great downhill runner," he said. "Every downhill we would get to, [Place] would get back any time I had made up. I knew if I wasn't in first place by the 5-mile mark, I would be in trouble."

It was not just a big day for Place. The members of his four-man group, the Achilles Racing Team, all finished in the top 11. The group, which was made up of Allegheny College graduates, also included Kevin Pool, 25, of Greenville (fifth); Marco Dozzi, 23, of Pittsburgh (sixth) and Ben Mourer, 23, of Meadville (11th).

Leah Shouey, 25, of Pittsburgh was the women's 10K winner, finishing her second Great Race in 35:32. Shouey, who came in third last year, entered with her twin sister Lindsey, who finished seventh.

"It felt really good running through the crowd at the end," Leah Shouey said. "It was really overwhelming. I had no idea how I did. It was the crowd that told me. It made me kind of teary-eyed."

Shouey, who was an All-American distance runner at Allegheny College, used yesterday's race to help her train for the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon, which will be held Oct. 19.

NOTES -- In the 5K, Eric Burnett, 23, of Pittsburgh, won the men's division in 15:13 and Sarah Flament, 33, of Poland, Ohio, won the women's division in 17:20. ... Hans Rottmann, 40, (32:47) of Pittsburgh and Tammy Slusser, 43, (37:09) of Monroeville were the men's and women's masters winners. ... No one registered for the 10K and 5K wheelchair races, and both events were cancelled. ... Twenty-six people have participated in each Great Race. That group includes former mayor Tom Murphy, who ran the 10K yesterday in 57:03. ... Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who took part in the 10K run last year, didn't participate yesterday because of illness. ... Two runners were taken to area hospitals because of chest pains and general weakness.