Sertoma Club & Race History
The Philadelphia Sertoma Club was originally formed in 1980 as a civic club made up of local businessmen with a desire to benefit the people of Neshoba County. The Philadelphia charter was sanctioned under the parent organization, Sertoma International. With a common goal of "service to mankind," both clubs, as well as many more throughout the United States, concentrate their focus on helping youth and children with speech and hearing impairments. To raise money to assist the community, the Philadelphia Sertoma Club created a fundraiser to serve this purpose. The Ironman World Championships began in 1978 in Hawaii and the club used that model to form the foundation of the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon.
At that time, triathlons were a new activity and many in this area were unfamiliar with the sport. One of the club members, Lee Dukes, a member of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, suggested a triathlon for a fundraiser and so began the formation of the HOD Triathlon. The club presented its 40th consecutive race in 2019 and the HOD remains one of the longest consecutive running triathlons in the contiguous United States.
The original race in 1980 was 35 miles from Louisville to Philadelphia, consisting of a .5 mile swim, 27.5 mile bike and 7 mile run and the most recent race in 2019 was the same way. Today the club strives to put on an exciting, safe race for all participants in this point to point event and always looks for ways to make the race better year after year. Over the last 40 years, there have been some small changes and also some major ones but the course remains unchanged. Also remaining unchanged is the club's desire to help those in the community and this race provides the necessary funding on an annual basis. The Philadelphia Sertoma Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
