Tri for a Cure, Maine’s only all-female triathlon, will be held Sunday, July 17, at the Southern Maine Community College campus in South Portland and on a race course through South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. The event supports the Maine Cancer Foundation.

Each year, more than 1,000 women take part in the U.S.A. Triathlon-sanctioned event, which includes a 1/3-mile swim, a 15-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. Crowds of spectators also turn out for the event, in its ninth year.

Motorists driving through South Portland and Cape Elizabeth on race day can expect road closures and traffic delays.

The race begins at Southern Maine Community College, and delays and closures should be expected from 6 a.m. to noon in South Portland and from 8-10 a.m. in Cape Elizabeth.

Benjamin Pickett Street and Fort and Surfsite roads in South Portland will be closed and there will be delays on Broadway, Route 77, Preble Street, Cottage Road and Willard Square. 

The South Portland city website is also warning people to expect heavy traffic and congestion at Bug Light Park and SMCC, and at the municipal boat ramp.

In Cape Elizabeth, the northbound lane of Shore Road will be closed from Route 77 to Preble Street.

Parking is available at the Breakwater parking lot on Madison Street and at Cottage Road Service Center, both near the SMCC campus, and in the SMCC student and visitor parking area, off Broadway, and in the field across from that parking area.

The Tri, founded in 2008 by Julie Marchese and Abby Bliss, has become the largest triathlon in the state of Maine. It raised $1.5 million last year, for a total of about $8.5 milliion over its history.

The triathletes are sometimes cancer survivors, while others race in support of their loved ones. But one thing they all share is the desire to create a cancer-free Maine.

An award ceremony is scheduled for noon.

A group of triathletes prepares for the third-of-a-mile swim at a previous Tri for A Cure event.