They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even, um, run alike?

So Katherine Nichols and Rachel Ross aren't exactly identical cousins a la The Patty Duke Show, but the close friends and training partners have logged enough miles in tandem and sat together atop the standings of enough races to make a case for being best doubles team in the individual sport of road racing.

At yesterday's Straub/Kapi'olani Women's 10K race, an all-women's event, it was Nichols who took her turn as No. 1, completing the 6.2-mile out-and-back course from Kapi'olani Park to Kahala in a speedy 38 minutes and 53 seconds. Ross finished second at 39:21, followed by Kelly Calway in 40:10.

"People keep trying to tell us apart when we're standing together," quipped the 31-year-old Ross, as she and Nichols renewed their customary "She's stronger/No, she's stronger" post-race debate.

"I'm not as strong as she is, let me be honest," said Nichols, 41. "I tag along for the workouts when I can. I don't do everything she does, but I hang in there when I can and it's good for me. She keeps me young."

Their performance yesterday was even more impressive considering they had spent the previous day cycling in preparation for upcoming triathlons. Ross, who is training for an Ironman, biked 115 miles then followed it up with a short, intense training run; Nichols, prepping for a half-Ironman, rode 60 miles.

Yet, both women happily conceded that the real star yesterday was race director K.C. Carlberg, who showed up for her duties fit and smiling despite her ongoing battle with ovarian cancer.

"Having K.C. up there speaking, with a bald head, almost crying, that was the best," Nichols said. "This is why I'm here. That woman is an inspiration to every woman out here. I was thinking about her when it really started to hurt. It was like, 'Think about what that woman has been through.' "

Ross said it was Carlberg who motivated her to come out despite her tired legs.

"I think a lot of women came out today just to support K.C.," Ross said. "That last thousand (meters), I thought, 'O.K., let's do it for K.C.' "

The race started quickly, with Nichols and Ross keeping pace with a pack of younger runners who broke early at a 6:05 pace through the first mile.

Nichols made her move at the 5K mark, followed by Calway and Ross, and continued to push the pace through the hilly return up Diamond Head Road.

"She just took off," Ross said of Nichols. "The last thousand, she was gone. I was happy for her. I was happy to watch her go so I could watch."

Despite her impressive career as a road racer and triathlete, Nichols had never won the women's 10K until yesterday.

More than 2,000 women registered for yesterday's event.

Mollie Chang, a veteran marathoner and a member of the Faerber's Flyers running group, was one of several long-time runners honored for having run all 31 women's 10K races.

While Chang, 75, said she prefers track workouts, she also said she likes the women's 10K because of the relatively easy distance and the camaraderie among the runners on and off the course.

Linda Higa, 49, of 'Aina Haina, said she enjoys the race because of the atmosphere of mutual support and the absence of male competition. An unabashed pragmatist, she also enjoyed the bounty of food and freebies at the finish line.

"There's a lot of stuff at the end," she said, laughing.

Higa, a veteran marathoner, said races like the women's 10K help her to stay in shape for her year-round schedule of tennis competition.

Marilisa Elrod, 33, of Kailua, said she felt inspired seeing the field of women competing to the best of their abilities and supporting one another.

"It's very uplifting," she said. "It's nice to be in the majority because in most races women are in the minority. It's nice to race with people you have something in common with."

Elrod, a Navy lieutenant, said it was also gratifying to know that proceeds from the race were going to support ovarian cancer research.

"It's a nice feeling of solidarity for a cause that affects women," she said.

Barbara Zamparelli, 78, of 'Aiea, is a veteran of some 400 road races, including 26 marathons. And while she's cut down considerably from the days when she used to race once or twice a week, she still makes it a point to participate in the women's 10K.

Yesterday, Zamparelli overcame hot, humid conditions and a hilly course to meet her goal of running at a 12-minute-per-mile pace.

"It's not like the old days of running 10-minute miles," she said, laughing.

While the race is restricted to women only, there were at least guys on the course yesterday: 4-year-old Lane Thomas-Clark and his 2-year-old brother, Quinn.

The boys completed the course in an hour of relative luxury, pushed along in a double-stroller by their mother, Heather.

"It's fun for the kids and it supports women's health," said Heather Thomas-Clark, a nurse practitioner with the Army. "I just like to see women out exercising. I like to promote women's health. I try to work out so my patients who don't work out can see, and I try to get the kids into exercise so they see that it's fun. It's always fun."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.