against a formidable field at last Sunday's Powerman Alabama Duathlon in Birmingham.

Richardson finished 84th overall in a field of 783 and had a creditable ninth place finish out of 62 who competed in the 40-44 age group.

The 40-year-old will tackle one additional duathlon in Birmingham near the end of next month before returning home to test his prowess against local challengers.

"I used Sunday's race as a major kick-off for my season coming up. I did some intensive training for more than four months and went into the event in good condition,'' said Richardson, who represented Bermuda in the triathlon at the CAC Games in Venezuela last year.

"I thought my performance was pretty good, but I know I can do better.

However, there were so many great competitors involved on Sunday and the winning times of 2.40 for the men and 2.58 for the women shows that they were formidable.'' The male winner was American Michael Tobin while the women's title was taken by Kimberley Bruckner also of the US.

Richardson felt he could have improved on his time of 3.12 had he not cramped going into his second 6.2 mile (10K) run.

The tough course started with a 6.2 mile run followed by a 38-mile bike ride over a hilly course and ended with another 6.2 mile run.

"It wasn't flat in too many places with the bike course in particular being extremely gruelling because of the hills,'' noted Richardson.

When he returns to Bermuda, Richardson hopes to be heavily involved with both triathlon and road running, moreso than last year when one of his better performances was in the National Sprint Championships in which he finished fifth overall.

Also among his plans is a first-time entry in the annual May 24 Marathon Derby.