COEUR d'ALENE - Austin Sommer danced a whimsical jig ashe stood in front of Figpickels Toy Emporium on Sherman Avenue, wearing a Daniel Boone cap and high-fiving passersby with lobster claw gloves.

"Don't be a crab on Ironman," said Sommer, of Coeur d'Alene. "It's supposed to be fun. You've got to have that energy like they do."

He said he always attends Ironman Coeur d'Alene, as do thousands of local fans who root for their favorite athletes and transform downtown into a colorful, cacophonous display of support for those running, biking and swimming. The route for Sunday's race was lined with friends, family members and fans waving signs, ringing cowbells, wearing brilliant shirts with loved ones' names and trumpeting loudly with noisemakers and stadium horns.

Colleen Krajack and her daughter Kennedy, 11, played the famous "Rocky" song, "Gonna Fly Now," as they cheered at the intersection of Lost Avenue and 14th Street on the running route.

"We loop the 'Rocky' song the whole time. We have since Ironman started in Coeur d'Alene (in 2003)," Colleen said. "Some of these runners that have been here for years and years look for it, they wait for it. It's very energizing for them, they get very excited. It's just a tradition we have. Our neighbors hate it but they all love that it inspires the runners ... it's one of those songs that when you're an athlete, it sort of gives you that extra energy to keep pushing on, because that's the point of the movie."

Colleen said Ironman is part of the reason she and her family live downtown and they love how it adds to the downtown culture.

"It's fun to watch because their uniforms are all different colors," Kennedy said. "I could never do that, it's crazy."

Another family with an Ironman tradition is the Ohlman family of Post Falls. Dan Ohlman and his daughter Shelby, 12, viewed the race near Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue with their 9-year-old yellow lab Maverick. Maverick showed his support as an "Irondog" by sporting bright pink and purple handkerchiefs and a cowbell around his neck as well as the Ironman logo painted on his sides and his "K9" athlete number on his shoulders and legs.

"This is his fourth or fifth year here," Dan said. "Every single year, we paint him up like that."

Several people who walked by offered Maverick a pat and a compliment as he wagged his tail.

"I like decorating him," Shelby said.

"That's our job," Dan said. "We have to make sure that he looks as good as he can because we've got to support the athletes."

Dan said his wife Stacey, who is a kindergarten teacher, and other daughter, Shawna, were volunteering in the bike-to-run transition area and that the family has volunteered for several positions through the years. They always attend the race.

More than 3,600 volunteers manned the course and the several aid stations along the way. Tammy Douglas of Post Falls and Cathy Stephens of Spokane Valley worked as volunteer captains for sector 2 on the running route.

"They come out in droves," Stephens said. "It's never an issue to find enough volunteers here. The community is so supportive and welcoming. It is one of the best Ironmans in the U.S."

Douglas echoed the sentiment.

"Coeur d'Alene Ironman and their volunteers are tops in the nation," she said. "Coeur d'Alene people come out and they stay all day."