As the spring starts to make an appearance it’s onceagain time to dig out the triathlon gear and start competing again. Despite theunseasonably warm weather we’ve been experiencing this year so far, it’s stilla little on the cool side for open water swimming but it’s time to start takingpart in duathlons. These events consist of a run followed by a cycle and thenfinishing with another run.  407 hardysouls took to the roads of Tramore at the weekend to take part in the Tramore Duathlon.On arrivalit was clear that the organisation and marshalling would be excellent and therewas no shortage of friendly faces to guide the athletes to registration, bagdrop and transition.  Blackwater Triathlon Club members Mick Beston,Marie MacAree, Harry Feeney, Bernard (Barney) Kiernanand Aidan Fitzgerald braved the wet and wild conditions on the day. For most this was their firstduathlon of the season so it was sure to be a testing morning The waves were breaking over the seafrontas the athletes ran along it creating interesting conditions for athletes andspectators alike. The surface looked like someone had emptied several bottlesof washing up liquid along the sea to create vast quantities of foam. It was a relatively flat and fastcourse around the seaside town of Tramore. The first run was, as described, 5kmand bar one or two small inclines was a course that certainly provided a fewseasons best run splits. The bike leg fell somewhat short of the 18Km distancethat had been anticipated- probably not a bad thing given the headwind on thereturn part of the bike leg. The last and final leg was just short of a 4kmrun- despite being a similar course to the first run leg it was much morechallenging given the tired legs. The first home from the Blackwater contingentwas Harry Feeney with an impressive time of 1:08:27, followed closely by MickBeston in 1:10:47, second in the 55-59 age group.  Aidan crossed the line in 1:14:32 and Barneyfinished in 1:27:26. Marie MacAree was the sole female athlete from the BTC onthe day and she finished in 1:29:37, a personal best for Marie in the event. Greatperformances all round from all the competitors and a really good start to theseason. Kudos to Waterford Triathlon Club for running an excellent race and toeveryone who braved the challenging conditions to take part on the day.