Breaking News! All Nation’s Triathlon race participants just received this depressing news via email:

Swim Segment. We received a letter 9/12/06 from the DC Metro Police stating the Harbor Permit we submitted was denied. The swim segment will be canceled and a 3k run substituted in its place.

Now the first question to ask would be why was the Harbor Permit denied? TNT says:

The process for testing the water in the middle Potomac for the specific purposes of conducting a swim event has never been well identified. While statutes, regulations and guidelines exist there is no precedent for permitting swimming for a triathlon.

TNT provided water quality tests starting July 31, 2006. We tested specifically for F Coli as required by the EPA for Class A use of a waterway. DC regulations require additional bacteriological testing be done for other pathogens in addition to F Coli. They also require testing for a greater length of time. The testing provided did not meet DC Requirements.”

That, kids, is called DC’s Byzantine regulations being a joy kill. But wait, why is the DC MPD giving out Harbor Permits, especially since the race entered/exited the Potomac on National Park Service land?

Something smells fishy here. Might it be hermaphoditc bass? Could the MPD’s be drinking Potomac estrogen water too long, to be scared of 500 elite athletes showing up its donut fed force on the race course?

Could this really be the fault of The Nation’s Triathlon’s irrational exuberance in having a 2006 triathlon? Might they have kept the ambiguity of approval hidden to entice more racers early enough to fill the course?

Either way, it’s a massive f*^k-up that is gonna doom this race. First off, many of the only 500 out of a projected 2,000 races will even do the course now that its not a triathlon. A run-bike-run is a duathlon, and not worth my time.

Oh, and offering a $50 credit to the 2007 race, out of a ~200$ entry fee doesn’t make up for it.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs