The Chilmark Road Race is a chimerical beast, part family-oriented charity jog, part cutthroat competition. Perhaps the contradictory spirit of the now-legendary institution was best summed up by Willy Anderson, age 10. When asked about his plans for the race, the bespectacled youth declared, "I really want to beat my mom. We'll start out together, but at the end I'll try to beat her."

Looks of calm, looks of determination, looks of pain and of pride: the expressions were as varied as the runners themselves, crossing the finish line of the annual Chilmark Road Race on Saturday morning - or, for the walkers, afternoon.

Just over 1,500 people ran the race, ranging from six to 79 years old. The youngest and oldest runners finished just 14 seconds apart. Some runners were turned away toward the end of registration, since 1,500 is the town's set capacity for the race.

The T-shirts spilling out of the brown paper bag onto A.V. and Dora Morrow's floor may be nicely creased and look brand new, but don't be fooled: 27 years and 83.7 miles worth of Middle Road in Chilmark are locked inside those cotton fibers.

The noisy, motley group of runners suddenly waxed silent and awaited the bullhorn. When it blasted, the soles of more than a thousand running shoes began pummelling Middle Road against a canvas of shadows and golden light.

On Saturday morning the 25th annual Chilmark Road Race began just as its predecessors - but with an even richer sense of history, and featuring a wonderful new gadget.