Jesse Thomas & Heather Jackson win the 2012 Wildflower Long Course Triathlon

“I’ll always come back here, I love it here, this was the birthplace of my triathlon career," said  Jesse Thomas after winning this year's Wildflower Long Course Triathlon in a time of 3:58:59.

Thomas battled for the lead for most of the race with second place finisher Jordan Rapp.

“When I passed into the lead, it was kind of dramatic,” Thomas added, “but I knew I had so long to go. I was never 100 percent confident I was going to win until I came into the finish shute."

On the women's side, not only did Heather Jackson win the race, but she did it in a new course record of 4:26:2 beating second place finished Linsey Corbin by about 6 minutes across the finishline.

“When I first got into the sport, the bike was good for me because I had the leg muscles,” Jackson said. “But I couldn’t run as well, so it’s been a matter of losing some of that muscle weight to even out the bike and the run, and then the swim is just an ongoing process.”

Wildflower Long Course Triathlon

Top 5 Professional men

1. Jesse Thomas (USA) 3:58:59
2. Jordan Rapp (USA) 4:00:22
3. James Cunnama (RSA) 4:02:01
4. Paul Matthews (AUS) 4:03:20
5. Chris Legh (AUS) 4:04:56

Top 5 Professional women

1. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:26:29
2. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:32:09
3. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 4:34:30
4. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:36:24
5. Charisa Wernick (USA) 4:38:42

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