With a crew featuring outrigger canoe paddlers from Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island, Team Bradley is rarely able to practice together as a team.

Instead, the dedicated athletes work out on one-person canoes and cross-train, and by sticking to the rigorous program, the squad continues to compete at an elite level despite actually paddling together a handful of times each year.

Team Bradley came together as one to compete in the E Lau Hoe race on Sunday and ended the Waikiki Beach Boys’ run of two consecutive titles at this particular event by posting a winning mark of 4 hours, 10 minutes and 16.9 seconds. Outrigger challenged Team Bradley throughout the race and finished nearly 29 seconds behind the victors, while the Waikiki “Beach Girls” crossed the line third (4:16:49.07).

“It was the three of us together in the beginning, and it didn’t turn into a real aggressive race until we rounded Barbers Point,” said veteran Team Bradley crew member Lauren Spalding. “Hats off to Outrigger, they’re training so hard within their new program. There’s always somebody knocking, and it’s great to see a bunch of great girls like that … they lit our fire after making up a lot of ground on us” late in the race.

In what served as the penultimate race of the distance season, 32 all-female crews from across the state completed the 32-mile trek that started at Maunalua Bay in Hawaii Kai and finished in the waters fronting Nanakuli Beach Park. The women now have a week off to prepare for the Na Wahine O Ke Kai, the 41-mile Molokai-to-Oahu championship race slated for Sept. 25.

Team Bradley’s triumphant crew also included Dane Ward, Lori Nakamura, Andrea Moller, Ka‘ulu Lu‘uwai, Kristin Foster, Noelani Auger, Cherisse Agorastos, Nicole Pedersen and Coral Gonzales.

“We don’t train together like traditional clubs, so we really work on trying to blend,” Spalding said. “Molokai is going to be a great race. The Beach Girls are always competitive and Outrigger is always there at Na Wahine.

“I don’t think this is a true prediction of what will happen in two weeks, so much can change in the channel.”

Paddlers enjoyed calm ocean conditions and relatively small swells throughout the course, which allowed paddlers to focus on and refine their technique.

“We had great hull speed at times, but there were other times where the canoe’s ‘stickiness’ and ‘running’ just weren’t there,” said Waikiki’s Dana Yaross. “You come into E Lau Hoe knowing that it’s a relatively flat race with smaller, surf-able connections. This race tells us that we have a lot of work to do, and a lot of little things to clean up.”

The Beach Boys entered the race on the heels of a runner-up finish at the Queen Liliuokalani Race held Sept. 3 in the waters along the Big Island’s Kona coast. Waikiki finished less than a minute behind Lanikai’s “unlimited” crew, and nearly topped the field of 122 female crews by navigating the 18-mile course in 2:13:14.

Team Bradley won the Dad Center Race on Aug. 28 and completed the 25-mile course spanning from Kailua Beach, around Makapuu and Diamond Head and finishing in the waters fronting Kaimana Beach in 3:12:27 and fended off Outrigger by nearly a minute.

Team Bradley has won eight of the last 10 Na Wahine O Ke Kai titles including six straight crowns from 2005-2010. The dynastic club has established itself as a perennial favorite throughout the long-distance season, and is nearing the level of dominance established by Offshore (Calif.), which also won the race six consecutive times (1986-1991) and raced to victory 10 times out of 11 tries (1986-1996).

Last year’s Na Wahine O Ke Kai was canceled due to strong winds and treacherous surf that was deemed too dangerous to race in.

In the final event of the season leading into the Molokai races, the men will compete in the Henry Ayau Memorial Race on Sunday, which follows the same course as the E Lau Hoe. Team Red Bull and Team Primo of Maui are favorites to take home the hardware if they choose to participate, but crews from Kailua, Lanikai, Hui Lanakila, Hui Nalu and Outrigger are also expected to contend for the hardware.

The long-distance season consists of four races on Oahu — two men’s and two women’s events — sandwiched around the Queen Liliuokalani event. The season culminates with the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe (Oct. 9): the women’s and men’s versions of the 41-mile Molokai-to-Oahu race often regarded as the sport’s world championship. In distance races, crews are accompanied by motored escort boats and are allowed to substitute paddlers along the way to provide them with breaks.