Mugging with Macs.

Studying at Macdonald's isn't that bad I must say hahaha... now to finish up whatever work I have left and head out for my late night jog :) Oh... I ripped this off YR's Blog... in place of the disastrous (again... a personal opinion...) OSIM Race... we now have... nothing :)

Spore loses right to host ITU series opener - ST

By Jeanette Wang

IT WAS set to be the biggest triathlon ever held here, but Singapore has lost the right to host the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships series opener in May.

The Straits Times understands the ITU confirmed its decision to move the race to Tongyeong, Korea, on Tuesday.

This was due to a lack of sponsorship support despite months of negotiations. It is believed the race would have cost $2million to organise.

'Essentially, there's a financial crisis going on, so there were issues with making the budget work, and that didn't happen,' a source said yesterday.

Triathlon Association of Singapore president Mark Tay declined comment until he receives official notification from the ITU, which is expected to arrive today.

Some 120 of the world's top triathletes, including Olympic champions Jan Frodeno of Germany and Australia's Emma Snowsill, were set to feature in the May 9-10 event, with guaranteed live international TV coverage.

It was to kick off the inaugural 2009 series, which comprises seven US$150,000 (S$232,000) World Championships legs plus a US$250,000 grand final at the Gold Coast in September.

Besides the elite race, thousands of age-group athletes would also have the chance to compete and try to qualify for the grand final.

'I'm very disappointed,' said David Lim, 41, a swim coach and avid triathlete. 'My friends and I were hoping to see the stars race. I was even planning to take the day off just for it.'

The race was to kick off with a 1.5km swim at East Coast Park, followed by a 40km cycle and 10km run in the city centre, culminating in a downtown finish.

Top age-group triathlete Kevin Timmons, 46, a Briton based here, was planning to qualify for his first World Championships.

'Now I have to go back to the UK to try to qualify,' said the corporate trainer.

The biggest blow: In December, the annual Osim Singapore International Triathlon - the Republic's only Olympic distance triathlon held typically in July or August - had merged with the ITU race.

Osim's brand and strategic marketing head Alan Tan said discussions on the future of the Osim race were ongoing.

'I was training for it,' said Lim. 'I have nothing to look forward to now.'

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All the more reason to start flocking to the neighbours for OD races now :). I ain't really opinionated right now so... its back to blog and wiki-surfing!!