Race Cancel

Regarding the matter above, I as a Race Organizer would like to announce 24 Hours of Insomnia, the race that I would like to organize soo much has to be cancel for the time being and will be carry forward to next year.

It is all due to bird flu virus that spread to Bukit Merah area recently and at the very last minutes (4 weeks to go from the date} and even forced the MK Land, the owner of the resort to shoot down all of their animal performance, cattle and so on. And it was so happened that part of the track for the 24 Hours of Insomnia is just beside their feeding place. I already asked the person in charge in Perak State and according to him, it would take about 3 to 6 months from now for the area to get safe declaration for any activities.

To carry on with the race is not a wise idea. More ever this virus is not a joke and something that I can simply ignore. And I can guarantee maybe only half of the participants that I expected will show up or maybe even less. I already tried the best to change the venue to Ipoh but with 4 weeks to go, it almost impossible to do that.

The only thing that I concerned most is the track. Yes it's true that Ipoh is known for their accessible off road tracks all over the town but to find one with all the spec that I needed for the race is not easy. And I need about 5 weeks ( I only available on weekend coz im working on weekdays means the time was very limited) to test run whether it is suitable for the event, to make sure it was a loop which is not too long and not too short, not soo technical and can overtook riders, to make sure it is safe for every participants for all level of riding at night time and I have to make sure it comes with a huge empty field just for the transaction area, check point and secretarial tent.

After that I need to make a cancellation letters and tones of explanations for those who involved government sector, private sectors and sponsors. It is also involving the hotel deal that I made before and need to make a new accommodation arrangement again with the nearest hotels in Ipoh. To inform all the sponsors is another problem because obviously they already have their plan going. They need to contact the nearest branch which is taking quite some time to help them since they have their own boarder area, especially to make a new banner with the new venue on it.

To change again the date is not a good idea coz I already done it once. To find 3 days holiday in a row after this are no more for this year. Saturday and Sunday is not enough coz I need an extra day just to arrange all sort of things for participants that includes the race concept, how the transaction work, test ride by participants and race briefing. More ever I just afraid it might clash with some other event which is so un-sportmanship spirit. Then it cause participants in dilemma to choose which event they should go.

I want to apologize to all of you who already trained hard and well prepared for this event. It might sound just a plain reason for those who don't understand or never knew how hard it is to make an event happen. This is behind the scene scenario. I tried to be honest with you and taking some time to explain such a difficult situation that I'm going through. I knew somehow that I might offend some people but I already tried the best of me to make the race possible. Rather than making such a cincai event, it's better for me to cancel it. Both decisions will give some bad impact on me but somehow I guess the second choice is the best.

But one thing for sure though, it will never end just like this. Believe me¡Keven though I let you guys down today but I hope I can make someone smile tomorrow. I still keen to make it happen next year since I already built it with my soul from scratch. While in the making of this event, I've come to realized that I still lacked of something that I just simply ignored but it was a totally bum kicking by end of the day. On my side, I still have lot things to improve since no one organized this kind of event before.

Thank you all soo much for giving me such a good respond from the beginning. I knew it can be done but it just that the obstacles play their part too. I knew it will never become perfection but somehow I will try and make it the best. Please don't hesitate to support me again next year.

Shaiful Helmi