Mere mortals were able to race alongside - or at least in the general vicinity - of some of the best runners in the country Saturday at the first Strands 5K Race.

Strands is a Corvallis-based tech company that has about 100,000 users worldwide.

"Our website is for runners, and most of us are runners, so we wanted to do something to be involved in the running community locally," said Matt Downin, Strands marketing director.

Ben True of Eugene, who trains with the Oregon Track Club, won the 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) race in a time of 14 minutes, 4 seconds, a pace of 4:32 per mile.

Not bad - especially considering he didn't decide to run the race until the night before. The flat and fast course, which started at Southwest Jefferson Avenue and Sixth Street, contributed to True's personal best time for a road 5K.

"This is just like a drag strip," he said, looking at the course.

True also won this year's Fall Festival Run in Corvallis.

Saturday's prize money - which totaled $13,000 - was the main draw for elite athletes.

Fifth-place finisher Ben Bruce, who also trains with the Oregon Track Club, said the race may have had one of the deepest fields in the country this year.

"The results speak for themselves," he said.

Meghan Armstrong, who grew up in Tualatin and later raced for the University of Iowa, won the women's race in 16 minutes, 23 seconds. Second was two-time Olympian Elva Dryer of Colorado in 16:32.

The top mid-valley competitor was Jonathan Marcus of Corvallis, who was 16th in 14:47.

A total of 141 runners finished the 5K race.

Complete race results are available online at www.strands5k.com or www.racecenter.com.