Hate to say this, but my PT friend has figured out, as well as being a Decathlete - that he can go off fast in 5-milers or 10k races for the first mile, then maintain pace - he gets to the front by deliberately doing warmup exercises infront of the start line and proceeds to do a couple of stride-outs incase people try to push infront.  Basically put - people have to either move to let him in, or he's right at the front for a local road race.  I know it seems like a dick-move, but if you're good enough, you know personally you can move out of the way of faster runners, rather than dodge past people who should be behind you the whole way.