Published: July 30, 2008 09:58 am         

Flowers, Hair, run away with victories at Heart o' Dixie

It wasn’t a journey back in time to the 1960s, but the top two names from the 2008 Heart o’ Dixie Triathlon were Flowers and Hair.

Madison Flowers, 30, of Fort Worth, Texas, was the top overall finisher as his time of 2:03:03 was 35 seconds faster than Ridgeland?s Hastings Puckett’s 2:03:38.

Third place overall went to Justin Ladner, 28, of Hoover, Ala., at 2:03:52. He finished 49 seconds off the winning pace.

Margot Hair, 28, of Diamondhead was the top female finisher. She placed fourth overall.

Flowers’ time was the race’s second slowest winning time in its 29-year history. Only Vic Kelley’s 2:14:55 in the first Heart o’ Dixie in 1980 was slower.

Flowers grew up in Mississippi before moving to Texas.

“I?m originally from Monticello and I ran in high school in Vicksburg,” said Flowers, who was competing in his first Heart o’ Dixie. “I’ve got family still living in Mississippi. I just decided to come back home and visit and wanted to do a triathlon in Mississippi.

“My coach is Jack Weiss. He did the first Heart o’ Dixie. When I told him that I wanted to do this one and asked him if he’d come do it with me, he was real excited. We made the trip down here together and had a good time.

“It was great. The hills were tough, but you knew that going into it. This was my first Heart o’ Dixie and I enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to coming back. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it every year, but I would certainly like to come back sometime.”

Flowers did the half-mile swim in 11 minutes, two seconds. He averaged 23.3 miles per hour on the 27.5 mile bike and averaged a race-best five minutes, 39 seconds per mile over the seven-mile run.

The run showing was no surprise as Flowers was primarily a runner before Weiss began working with him.

“Madison was a steeplechase runner and he did one or two of my races,” said Weiss. “I coach, but my main thing is race directing.

“I select maybe 10 athletes to coach. Madison came to me and asked if I could help with his cycling. We started training together. The first race we did together he won in McKinney, Texas, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth.

“He asked if I’d ever heard of the Heart o’ Dixie Triathlon. I said ‘Heard of it? It’s the very first race I ever did in my life.’ I did the very first one.

“He asked if I wanted to go and here we are.”

Weiss, 63, completed the race in 2:47:07, good for 175th place overall out of the 323 individuals to finish the course.

Puckett, 31, was the first to cross the finish line, but he started two minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Flowers. The race has a staggered start with five-second intervals in the half-mile swim at Lake Tiak O’Khata.

“This is my second year in triathlons and my first Heart o’ Dixie,” said Puckett, a former Jackson Academy basketball standout and the 2008 Heatwave Triathlon winner at Ridgeland.

“The Heatwave was my first win. I’ve always been an athlete and always liked to compete. Some friends got me in this sport and I like it. I enjoy training and I enjoy competing and staying fit.

“Running is my strongest leg of the three. I’m not a very good swimmer at all so I always dig a hole. I try to hang in there on the bike and make up ground on the run.”

Puckett did the swim in 12 minutes, 31 seconds. He averaged 24.1 miles per hour on the bike and five minutes, 51 seconds per mile on the run.

Hair was the female winner with a time that left her wanting to come back again next year to go for the top overall prize. Her 2:04:09 was just a minute and six seconds behind Flowers.

No female has ever finished first overall in the Heart o’ Dixie.

Hair completed the swim in 10 minutes, 50 seconds, then averaged 24.4 miles per hour on the bike. Her average time of 6:13 on the run enabled Flowers and Puckett to pull away.

“I came last year and had a 2:18, so I dropped 14 minutes,” said Hair, who was making just her second Heart o’ Dixie appearance. “I think I could have gone faster if I had known that guy was just a minute ahead of me. I could have picked it up.

“I just kinda cruised on the run because I was making the time I wanted to run. I kinda zoned out on the bike and forgot I was racing.

“The bike felt pretty good other than when I zoned out and then had to pick it up.

“I had a messy bike transition, but hopped on the run and was watching my paces and they were fine. I didn’t see any reason to kill myself.”

Hair, who moved to Diamondhead from Seattle, Wash., three years ago, already planned to put next year’s race on her to do list.

“I love this race,” Hair said. “This is like the Tour de France because everybody is on the side cheering and I waved and that makes me go fast.

“I’m coming back next year.”