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MANSFIELD - Kent Taylor and Kyle Sousa were stride for stride as they passed through a 5:04 first mile on Forbes Blvd. in Mansfield during Sunday's Billy Kelly races. But neither one knew which race the other was competing in. Because the Billy Kelly has both a 5K and a five mile and because both start simultaneously, runners are unaware of where a competitor could lurk. The races split at the 11/2-mile mark where the 5K turns back and the five mile continues. That was the situation for the fleet-footed duo as they raced towards uncertainty on a cold and blustery day.

"I was trying to go out conservatively because I didn't know if he was going to be in a five mile race or not," said Dighton's Sousa who was doing the five mile. "He looked real strong in the beginning; good form and stuff, so I decided to hang with him for a mile or two and see what happens."

Taylor shared the same uncertainty. "I had no idea," said the Attleboro resident and Norton High School coach. "The guy that I was racing, I thought he was doing the 5K. There was no way I though he was going out at a 5:04 and doing a five mile. So we were both hammering each other. He thought I was doing the five miler so it was going back and forth like that."

Enlightenment didn't occur until the turnaround when Sousa went straight (5 mile) and Taylor turned (5K) and their true identities were revealed. At that point, if looked as if both races had suddenly been decided as the trailing pack was a 100 yards in arrears.

Then, near the two mile mark of the 5K, a form appeared on the horizon. "I stayed back a little and these guys went out a little too fast," said Peter Cahalane. The Somerville resident started to consume mass amounts of tarmac and suddenly the speck in the distance became a legitimate threat. Taylor's slowing pace and his glancing back galvanized the Wheaton College student. "Thought he was in trouble because he picked it up when he saw me coming," Cahalane said. "When we came over the hill with 400 to go I felt all right and I made a surge."

The two were even when they turned onto Cabot Blvd.; then Cahalane finished with a burst over the last 200 meters to win in 16:42 over a field of 316.

"It was not a well run race on my part," said Taylor, who placed second in 16:52. "I figured I would go out fast and just take it from the start. A lot of local road races you can do that. Once they see that you're out ahead they don't come after you. But this guy reeled me in."

"I got lucky today I guess," said Cahalane. "Didn't plan on running that fast but some of these high school kids took it out hard so I just went with them and held on in the end and ended up taking it."

Unlike Taylor, Sousa had no speck on the horizon come back on him in the five mile. However, he did feel some initial pressure. "It definitely took a heavy load off my back when I realized that he wasn't a contender; was in the other race," he said of Taylor. "After he turned, the first thing I did was turn around and look over my shoulder."

No one was close as Sousa rolled in to finish with a three minute margin in 26:23, a new course record.

In the women's 5K, Michelle Sarney returned to win, nine years after she set the course record of 17:50 in 1999. In her first road race in five years, the West Bridgewater resident held off Dartmouth's Joann Mathews to win in 18:37.

Amanda Kourtz defended her women's five mile title, winning in 30:52 and also setting a course record. The Raynham resident had no competition, easily fending off GBTC's Katie Fobert by two minutes.

"I was running with my training partner Jack," she said. "I ran it last year so I knew it was downhill the first part and uphill after the turnaround. But it was windy today so it made it a little tougher."

Her primary goal in coming to Mansfield was to set the course record, which she accomplished. The other? "To win a pair of running shoes I hope." She got that, a frozen turkey and a bouquet of roses to boot.