On Saturday April the 6^th, threemembers of the Blackwater Triathlon Club, Bernard “Barney” Kiernan, GearoidMurphy and Dermot Johnson, travelled to Killarney to take part in the HardmanDuathlon. The perfecttest before the triathlon season opens, the Hardman Duathlon is held on a fast,flat course in Killarney. It starts with a 10km run through Killarney NationalPark, followed by a fast cycle to Killorglin and back. The race then finisheswith a quick 5km run, again through the beautiful park. The race will start andfinish at the Castlerosse Hotel. The morning was a little cloudy and breezy,but otherwise a good morning for a race. The Blackwater crew were joined on thestart line by a hundred or so other athletes. Gearoidhad a great run, finishing the 10km in a brisk 42 minutes. Dermot wasn’t farbehind him, completing the run in 46 minutes, with Barney completing the 10kmin 51 minutes. The 40km bike section was tough in places with a strong headwindat times and rain for most of it. The surface of the road was also very roughcoming back in to Killarney. Despite this all three made it back to transitionand then finished the event with another run.  The second run was a 5km loop back into thepark and a up hill finish into the car park, where the runners were glad to seethe finishing line with the Hardman name over it. Gearoid finished in 2:13:33,followed by Dermot in 2:32:38 and Barney in 2:50:38. It was great for them tofinish their first Hardman event and a great opportunity for the lads tocompete together for the first time. As the club gets bigger and bigger it isnow common for members to meet each other for the first time at the start lineof a race, united by their BTC club colours. Hopefully the first of many timesracing together.