At times during last weekend's Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon, the cheers of support and celebration directed at competitors up and down the 280-plus strong pack were almost deafening.

And the crowd was pretty loud, too.

Rachel Ross, who suffered a concussion during the Dick Evans Memorial Bike Race two weeks earlier, completed the 300-meter swim, 12-mile bike, and 3.1 mile run in 57 minutes, 19 seconds.

Katherine Nichols (59:18) placed second and received a huge ovation at the finish — from Ross.

Then Ross and Nichols joined in breathless applause for the No. 3 finisher, Candes Gentry (1:03:17).

And so it went all throughout the ninth running of the all-women event. Competitors cheered for each other at the start, at the finish, and at every opportunity in between.

"It's always so nice to do this race," said Ross, who finished second last year. "Everyone is so supportive of each other. We were cheering each other on the whole way. It's competitive, but not quite the same way as it is with men."

Ross suffered a serious concussion when she fell from her bike 90 miles into the 112-mile Dick Evans race on Sept 2. The injury kept her off the bike and out of the water for much of the two weeks leading up to the triathlon.

Ross, who doesn't consider herself a strong swimmer, was the fifth competitor out of the water on Sunday, but she took advantage of a dominant cycling performance to make up ground.

Ross caught Nichols heading up Monsarrat Avenue and continued pushing in an attempt to build a buffer for the run segment.

"Katherine and I train together so I know how strong she is on the run," Ross said. "I was running for my life."

Ross and Nichols will continue to train together as they prepare for the Ironman World Championship in Kona on Oct. 13. It will be Nichols' first appearance in the storied race after more than a decade of dominating sprint- and olympic-distance triathlons.

"I've been raising kids for 16 years and training for longer races is exhausting, taxing," said Nichols, who is putting the finishing touches on her soon-to-be published memoirs. "I'd tried to qualify before, but there were always mishaps, like injuries or flat tires. Now my kids are grown and when I told them I wanted to try, they said, 'Go Mom!' "

Of course, the race wasn't just for the elites.

Caught in the mix of teens and seniors, professionals and homemakers, lifelong fitness nuts and reformed sofa spuds, was 31-year-old Summer Lawton.

Prior to Sunday, Lawton's claim to athletic fame was her membership in a local chapter of StrollerStrides, a group of parents who combine fun and exercise while walking or running with their babies in carriages.

Through the group, Lawton developed friendships with other fitness-conscious women. With such positive peer pressure, it didn't take much for Lawton to decide to enter her first-ever race.

"I had to borrow a bike from my neighbor because I don't have one," said Lawton, laughing. "I think I'd only gotten on the bike six times before this race."

Lawton's husband, Brian, said he was thrilled at his wife's new challenge and he did whatever he could to be supportive.

On Sunday, that meant waiting near the finish line and leading the Lawton girls — 5-year-old Isabelle and 2-year-old Ruby — in a round of cheers as Summer completed the race.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.