The smell of sunscreen permeated the air as thousands of supporters gathered along the Ironman 70.3 race route in downtown Coeur d'Alene on Sunday.

"Go iron people," yelled a group of little girls to several of the athletes along Lakeside Avenue as the racers rode their bikes toward Northwest Boulevard.

Each athlete received cheers from spectators and volunteers alike as they swam, biked and ran the first Ironman 70.3 triathlon held in Coeur d'Alene. The excitement grew and the cheering and music got louder as the day warmed up following the 1.2-mile swim, and more of the bicyclists returned from their 56-mile ride and began their 13.1-mile run.

Some of the spectators were there for family or friends, and others were there simply to support and cheer for the more than 3,000 race participants.

One group stood along the run route near The Coeur d'Alene Resort wearing matching bright green T-shirts that said, "Team Amanda." Amanda Nicholson of Coeur d'Alene was running her first Ironman, so her husband, kids, aunt, uncle, sister, grandpa, mom — even family from Alaska — came to cheer her on.

"And today is our anniversary as well," said Cody Nicholson, adding that he and Amanda have been married for seven years.

He said they were having a good time and Amanda hoped to finish in eight hours.

Sharon Sorrell, of Athol, volunteered at the Spokane Fantasy Flight aid station at McEuen Park and said the most important thing about volunteering is encouraging the athletes. Several volunteers lined up along the sidewalk in the park to hand water, soda and snacks to runners as they made their way through the park on the final leg of their journey. The volunteers hollered and applauded as each runner passed by them, and even though many passed by the refreshments or grabbed the cup of water, spilling it as they went by, the boost of energy they got as they went by the excited volunteers was apparent in many of the athletes.

"This is the first time I've come down for it and it's awesome — it's a lot of fun," Sorrell said, hollering between statements as more runners went by. "I have such respect for these guys, it's got to be grueling."

Laura Powell, of Spokane, was handing out water at the finish line and she also said it is about encouraging and motivating the race participants. Powell has volunteered at other Ironman races, but said this is her first time volunteering in Coeur d'Alene.

"It's really cool," Powell said as she busily handed out water to the finishers who had started coming in at regular intervals by mid-morning. "And there is a lot of people here."

Karlene Dysland traveled from the Tri-Cities with a group of 33. She has participated in three Ironman events in the past — two in Coeur d'Alene. She said they enjoy coming to Coeur d'Alene because it is not too far. Dysland participated in the full Ironman events and said the 70.3 coming to Coeur d'Alene is "great."

"We've watched the whole thing so far and this has been a really good venue," Dysland said.

But although she has participated in past events as an athlete, she participated as a spectator Sunday and support for the group she traveled with that were participating as either athletes or volunteers.

Kacie Klein, medical co-captain for the Ironman medical tent and a registered nurse for Kootenai Health, said there is a lot more anticipation for injuries during the full Ironman events and she said they did not see too many injuries Sunday other than a few bike crashes.

"Not too much, which is kind of what we anticipated for the half," Klein said. "This is the first year of doing the half, so it's a new thing for us kind of figuring out how we want to be set up, but so far so good."

Although the temperature did rise into the 80s on Sunday, Klein said it was "a lot better this year." Last year, the high temperature in Coeur d’Alene for Ironman was 105 degrees.

This is Klein's fifth year with the medical staff for Ironman Coeur d'Alene and said she will be back out again for the full Ironman in August.