The toughest challenge in my first ever half marathon was .......
making the decision to run the 21km and having the guts to register for the distance.
Once that was done the rest was auto cruise. It was also easy to push myself to train for the run because 16th June was Father's Day and I did the 21km for my daughter.
I wanted to show her that age does not matter . YOU CAN DO IT!
Getting into training was exciting when I had a goal of completing the run in 3 hours.
And I did it. 3 hours 1min. That included 10mins of photo taking and chatting with the local kampung people in Bali. Otherwise I would have done it under 3 hours and Nick Phillip Arthur would have bought me a keg of beer.
My favorite training regime was aquarobics particularly on the spot running in the sea (chest high depth).
My favourite "thing" that happened was meeting fellow runners from different countries. Sammy and his family come from Jakarta and were staying at the same hotel with me in Sanur. What great people they are.
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| Sammy, Joshua, The OrangeMan, Suzyanna and friend |
The run itself was beautiful in terms of the natural beauty Bali is.
The view that took my breath away was the Gunung view (dont know the name). Just about 6.30am I was on my 8th KM (the race started at 5.35am) when the clouds broke away at a distance and the farwway beauty of a tropical rainforest mountain was revealed to me.
I noticed that most runners just kept running but I stopped and just took some time to admire GOD's creation.
The charming and friendly Bali kampung people were there along the route cheering us on. Some actually sat down there quietly probably thinking why the hell would someone want to put themselves through the pain just to claim that they finished a 21km or a 42km on foot.
The Event itself
I thought the race kit collection center at Westin Resort Nusadua was fantastic as hotel and the way the collection center was set up. However, it was one hour by taxi from Sanur.
The collection was smooth although there was a waiting time 15 to 30 mins for a a queue of say 30 people. The total number of runners was no more than 2100.
The race venue at the Safari Park has its charm but I dont think it can cope for a larger crowd. People parked by the roadsides dangerously and walked towards the venue but there were no directions to follow.
The route for 21km was actually very scenic and was well laid out with distance and route markers. However there was no mobile toilets on the way. However, there were ample route marshalls and police managing the traffic.
The drink stations were ample and well manned. Only one drink station which was suppose to be around the 5km mark was 50 meters away from the route. You needed to divert from the route to have your drinks then get back on to the route again.
So I skipped that drink station and therefore I was running for about 6km with any drinks. That was tough.
I was also running in the dark for a good 6km and breathing in the open burning smoke. It was like running and smoking a cigarette at same time.
Despite some this little hiccups I really admire the race director Sayto Haryo Wibosono who is a senior management member for BII Maybank. Despite his full time job he was able to coordinate and execute this international event.
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| Race Director of BII Maybank Bali Marathon: Satyo Haryo Wibosono |
I am glad I lost my virginity in Bali. I am glad I decided to run the 21km instead of my initial 10km plan. I am glad I did it overseas because it will be forever in my memory stronger. I am glad I met Sammy, Joshua, Suzyanna, Sari and the rest of the family.
I am so grateful that GOD has blessed me to be in the sports business.
