Duane Hart was born in Hawera, Taranaki New Zealand, and after leaving school at 15yrs he gained a trade as an engineering draughtsman. He also spent 10 years training and racing as a 400m sprinter in New Zealand and competing for Taranaki and Waikato, then moving to London to race for Croyden and then 1st division club Belgrave in the UK. (His pb for 400m is 47.3 sec) Living in London for 2 years, he worked for the engineering department at the London Underground and Harrod