Some women compete in the Tri for a Cure wearing looks of agony on their faces – wrecked grimaces, taut lips over bared teeth. Some women compete wearing looks of remembrance, inward gazes focused on lost loved ones. And some women compete wearing looks of steely determination, jaws set and brows lined with regimented beads of sweat.

But it’s not only the determined who prove indomitable, because they all finish, and many do so after surviving the ravages of cancer – which Sunday’s event, as it does every year, raised money to combat. Every participant in the Tri committed to raising at least $350, and all proceeds went directly to the Maine Cancer Foundation. At better than 1,300 racers (including 125 or so survivors) – many of whom beat their minimum contribution by a huge margin – well, that’s almost $1.4 million for the foundation to look forward to.

Scarborough’s Renee Durgin, 41, won the Tri this year, in a combined time of 1:16:13.3 (an 11:58 swim of 1/3 mile, just off the South Portland shoreline at Southern Maine Community College; a 3:45.6 transition to the 15-mile bike stage, which she completed in 40:31; and a 1:08.6 transition to the 3.1-mile run, which she needed just 18:51 to cover.)

32-year-old Emily Hickey of Falmouth took second (1:19:02.8), and 32-year-old Vanessa Williamson of Auburn finished third (1:20:36.7).

More than 450 volunteers joined the racers Sunday, helping them strip off their wetsuits during the transition from swim to bike, manning water stations along the route, and otherwise offering heartfelt encouragement and supportive applause as the competitors passed them by.

WEX, Inc. presented the event, though dozens of other corporate sponsors are also involved, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Poland Spring, InterMed, and Town & Country Federal Credit Union.

The Tri can be found online at http://triforacure.org/, and the Maine Cancer Foundation is at http://mainecancer.org/.

A throng of competitors readies for the swim portion of the Tri for a Cure.58-year-old Martha Agan of Cape Elizabeth, swim member for relay team Daughters United, completed her leg of Sunday’s journey in 13:30. Her team finished 150th of 227.Meredith Strang-Burgess of Cumberland – and bearer of bib No. 1 – gave instructions and encouragement to each wave of competitors just before they took the plunge.Laura Hoops of Westbrook, 27, finished 42nd (of 67) in her division and 335th overall, in a time of 1:50:18.2.Freeport’s Staci Olson, 38, finished ninth in her division and 39th overall (of 605 individual competitors) in a time of 1:29:14.2.38-year-old Katy Dixon of Buxton, a member of team Beaux Guerriers alongside Wendy McKenney of Topsham, finished her swim in 15:22.Paige Fournier of Freeport, 33, completed the Tri for a Cure in 1:43:44.6, for 38th in her division and 241st overall.Gorham’s Angela LeClerc, 36, finished 21st in her division, and 93rd overall, in a time of 1:34:22.9.Scarborough’s Amy McBee, 39, finished 10th in her division and 41st overall, in a time of 1:29:21.7.Windham’s Emily Hinman, 37, completed the Tri in 1:42:29.2, for 48th in her division and 214th overall.