GRAND RAPIDS - Clara James-Heer's father failed to keep pace with his daughter during the 5K race in Saturday morning's 41st Annual Fifth Third River Bank Run.

Craig James-Heer shouldn't feel too bad, though. Most of the field couldn't keep up with her, either.

James-Heer is only 11 years old, but that didn't stop her from winning the Women's 5K race. In fact, her time of 17 minutes, 52.86 seconds placed her 14th overall in the field.

James-Heer attends Forest Hills Central Woodlands and is too young to run on her school's team. But she has been gaining national attention for her running, and this weekend, she took to her hometown streets and showed why.

She is believed to be the youngest River Bank Run winner in the event's history.

"I got ninth last year so I wasn't planning on (winning)," James-Heer said. "It felt really good. I like to get out hard and maintain a steady pace."

Kenyon Isaac Mukundi won the men's 5K in 15:14.96, then headed back to the start line, ran the 10K and took top honors in that race as well in 31:26.68. Mukundi beat out Michael Cox of Pinckney in both races.

James-Heer has already competed in about 20 road races, including last year's River Bank Run 5K. While James-Heer had the finish line area buzzing Saturday, her win probably didn't surprise anyone who has followed her career closely.

She participated in the Hershey National Youth Indoor Championships in Staten Island in March, and she defended her title in the 3,000 meter run and broke her meet record with a time of 10:06.55. She not only won the 11-12 year old age group, but her time was fastest of any age division. James-Heer also won the 1,500 in 4:46.12.

Her time Saturday was a personal best in a 5K, and she beat out Erin Webster of Dearborn to win the women's race. Webster, 32, was runner-up in 18:39.61.

"I think she's pretty amazing," Craig James-Heer said. "I didn't know if she was going to be able to win it, but she can do a pretty fast 5K time, and she is pretty ambitious. It was a matter of who was going to be here.

"We used to run together, but she started beating me last year. I think my days of beating her are over. She has been doing pretty good. She won the Gazelle Girls 5K. This was her first time under 18 minutes, and she has been working really hard for that."

James-Heer had no plans of slowing down Saturday after the race. She was headed up to Belmont, where she was going to join her Andrie Cycling teammates for a two-hour ride.

"She does triathlons and is on a cycling team," her father said. "She is gearing up for triathlons. She is a pretty good triathlete."