BACKGROUND
I had my eye on the Bromo International Marathon, held in Pasuruan,
Bromo Tengger Semeru (BTS) National Park, East Java, Indonesia, ever since I
first saw the pictures of the race course and the amazing scenery last year
(2014).
So I signed up for it without a second thought. Everything
was arranged and paid for including the airport coach transfer and homestay
accommodation. Training and race preparation was well underway too.
However, it was not meant to be as I made the snap decision
to give up the race after my late mother passed away on the same week of the
race. However important a race is, family will always take precedence and I did
all I could to ensure that the funeral rites went according to her last wishes
and plans just as she had entrusted me to do so.
This year, (2015), upon hearing the sad circumstances that
had caused me to forego last year’s race, the race director: Dedik Kurniawan,
kindly offered me a complimentary entry to the 3rd installment of
the race, free accommodation and airport coach transfer to Ledoksari, Tosari,
tucked away in the mountains of Pasuruan, BTS National Park.
I was naturally surprised and delighted. I signed up for the
half marathon as I did not dare to tax the almost recovered foot fat pad yet
and furthermore, upon looking at the race course, it looked very challenging.
Correction, it looked murderous!
Choosing the half marathon instead of the full marathon
category would also mean that I could plan a short hike and include some
sightseeing at the must-see sights of BTS.
PREPARATION
The weeks before the race saw me training hard and I mean
really, really hard for the upcoming challenge. As this would be my first race
in higher altitude and a longer and higher elevation than I’ve ever before
attempted, I included hill repeats, leg drills, corework, speedwork, and
fartleks. Almost every weekend saw me hitting the trails of Mardi along with
Mike Grover and his dog – Bama and one time, with BoBo, another of Mike’s
adoptees.
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| The Half Marathon race route (photo courtesy of race organizer) |
Despite all the murderous hill climbs over the Mardi trails,
one could not really be fully prepared for this trail race simply because we do
not have similar terrain over here in Malaysia to fully simulate the race
course over in BTS. It would be as Mike said, “Your pace will be dictated by
the terrain”. Oh well, I would have to take the chance and just wing it! Never
before have I felt less prepared for a race than this one!
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| The course elevation profile (Bromo Half Marathon category) - photo courtesy of race organizer |
Even packing was so last minute due to a hectic work
schedule that didn’t allow me much time to get my packing done earlier.
Finally, the day came to leave Malaysia for Surabaya. I was
flying by myself there a few days earlier before the race as Laurence Halvy,
another member of Mardi Runners Malaysia, would only be joining me on the
afternoon of the race eve. Apart from him, there was no one else I knew who was
going to the same race.
ARRIVAL
After a turbulent flight, I touched down at Surabaya Juanda
International Airport in wonderful weather, with gloriously blue skies, unlike
the haze and gloom from fires in Sumatra which had hit Kuala Lumpur recently.
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| Glorious Blue Skies over Surabaya Juanda International Airport |
The coach leaving the airport for Tosari, supposedly by
2:00pm was delayed due to waiting for late arrivals or even participants who
had signed up but did not turn up!
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| Bus Pass for coach airport transfer for the Bromo race participants |
We were finally off at last around 2:45pm and I settled back
into the mini-bus to catch some shut-eye.
By the time I woke up, it was near dusk and the mini-bus was
just about to make the winding steep climb up into the mountains that led to
the village of Tosari.
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| A glimpse of the beautiful village of Tosari from the moving bus |
The weather at Tosari village was cool, I think around 12 –
15 degrees Celsius by the time we arrived at around 5:45pm. It was also pitch
dark already! The sun sets really early here. We were taken to a transit area
where our respective guides picked us up and transferred us to our homestays.
I was picked up by Jiono who would also be my guide and jeep
driver during my sightseeing day in BTS National park. Jiono is a small, dark,
young and cheerful Tenggerese guy with sharp features. He shared with me lots
of stories about the Tengger people and knowledge about the National Park. He
would be back early at 2am the next day to guide me along my hike to Mount
Penanjakan and then up to the viewpoint.
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| My guide - Jiono |
SIGHTSEEING &
HIKING
I was exhausted and thus did not hear my alarm ringing nor
Jiono calling my mobile number the next morning. He had to come banging on my
room door before I hurriedly woke with a start, realized I was late and started
rushing around getting ready. I have never got ready with such speed before in
my life. Took me 5 – 10 minutes tops to wash up, change and grab my stuff which
thankfully, I had pre-packed the night before, and head out the door.
Almost immediately, the cold, sharp air, hit me like a slap
in the face. I was glad of the warm jacket, gloves and beanie I had brought
along, not to mention the thermal pants and shirt I wore.
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| A view of the trail that I hiked up to the viewpoint in the dark. This photo was shot after it grew bright. |
We slowly made our way along the path through the inky,
black darkness, illuminated only by our torches. It was a beautiful hike under
the clear starlit, sky and hearing the crunching of pine needles and gravel
underneath our boots. I could see millions and trillions of stars in the sky
which I would never have the opportunity to, back home. I could even make out
small clusters of stars which I deduced could be galaxies, based on my
stargazing experience during my younger days.
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| Day break over BTS. The village lights could be seen winking in the valley at dawn from my vantage point |
We finally started the short climb once we reached the foot
of Mount Penanjakan. The hike was pretty easy, all in all 14km from Tosari to
the viewpoint. We reached there around 4:30am.
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| The slowly rising sun illuminates the landscape of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Too beautiful beyond description |
I was glad Jiono guided me to this special viewpoint that
backed Bukit Kingkong. It was away from the main viewpoints usually crowded
with tourists jabbing their cameras in every spare inch of available space in
between bodies just to get the perfect position for their cameras while waiting
for the sun to rise over the volcanic landscape.
Our viewpoint was totally unobstructed and almost tourist
free. We settled into a short wait and had some hot Java coffee which was sold
by the vendors by the wayside.
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| The sun rises over Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. |
Finally, the magical moment arrived where the sun began to
kiss the mountain tops of the towering massifs. When the entire volcanic
landscape started to get illuminated by the sun, I was amazed by how
crater-like the view was before me. It was almost as if, I had been transported
to another planet! I was so glad that I had made the decision to visit!
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| The crater-like landscape bathed in the golden light of the rising sun |
Well, no words can quite describe the ethereal beauty of the
landscape. Even my camera couldn’t do it justice. It’s simply spell bounding. I
could only gape at the view at first before I realized that I was wasting
precious morning light and started snapping away with my camera.
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| The remnants of the crowd at the Viewpoint |
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| A jubilant me at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park |
After the sun had fully risen, Jiono had arranged for a jeep
to meet us and pick us down to the Savannah, or the “Padang Teletubbies”. Don’t
ask me why it’s named so strangely but it’s also a wild, ruggedly beautiful
place. I felt my heart starting to soar and soar as the jeep rumbled along and
came to a brief halt at the Savannah so I could take some photos.
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| The Savannah taken from a Viewpoint on the way down from Penanjakan |
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| Yours truly enjoying a beautiful morning in the Savannah |
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| Jeep at the Savannah |
We moved on to the Sea of Sand / Whispering Sands or “Lautan
Pasir / Pasir Berbisik” which is actually made up of the volcanic ash from
Mount Bromo. Black ash / sand was flying everywhere. And there were hoards and
hoards of vendors hawking touristy souvenirs as well as ponies to take the less
willing to walk tourist up the short 3km return hike to the foot of the Mount
Bromo crater, for a fee.
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| The Whispering Sands leading to Mt. Bromo Crater |
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| Expensive Pony-ride that will take tourists up to the foot of Mt. Bromo Crater |
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| Tourists who can't do the short sandy, dusty hike to Mt Bromo Crater opted to go on horseback |
I, of course, would never forgive myself if I chose a pony
ride over walking. I would not call myself a marathoner and yet disgrace myself
by riding a pony when I can easily walk this short distance. Besides, I could
save some money from a cut-throat pony vendor.
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| Me and my trusty Naroo Mask |
So off I went on my own, fully covered with my longer Naroo
Mask and hat. I walked past many pony-riders, some of them first-timers and
crying out in fear if the pony so much as broke into a trot. There was dust and
air pollution everywhere thanks in part to the ponies that kicked up sand and
so much choking dust into the air. I pitied those tourists who had arrived
unprepared as they had to use their jackets and hankerchiefs to cover their
faces each time a pony galloped past.
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| Ponies and horsemen at the Whispering Sands |
I walked past the small Tenggerese Hindu temple: Pura Poten
at the foot of Mount Bromo and finally arrived at the foot of a steep staircase
consisting of 250 steps which would lead me up to the lip of the smoking crater.
Already, I could hear the loud booms and small little blasts coming from the
crater that would make the ground shudder every now and then. How exhilarating!
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| The 250 steps up to the lip of the smoking Mt. Bromo |
While ascending the stairs, I could not help but to touch
the side of the volcano as I had promised myself I would do this if I ever came
here. There is something sacred about this place which I just cannot put my
finger on.
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| The smoking caldera |
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| Sulfurous smoke billowing in the wind from Mt. Bromo's crater |
Looking down into Mount Bromo’s smoking, bubbling, sulfurous
crater was a fantastic experience of a lifetime which I would never forget. I
was finally here, at Kawah Bromo (Bromo Crater)!
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| At the summit of Mt. Bromo |
I proceeded to do a walk around the lip of the crater and as
I needed both hands for this activity given that some parts there were no hand
railings, so, not much in the way of photos could be taken at this point.
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| Walking around the ridge of Mt. Bromo's crater. Simply exhilarating! |
This would be the highlight of my trip here and as I sat in
the jeep back to my homestay, I reflected upon this visit and was very glad I
chose to come here despite the earlier misgivings of recent eruptions from
another nearby volcano – Mount Raung which had cause Surabaya Juanda
International Airport to close for a day or so.
PRE-RACE
Back in Tosari, I picked up my race kit without much hassle at
the start / finish venue. In fact, the race kit collection was very smooth and
I would say efficient compared to what I experienced at the Bali International
Marathon in 2013. I can say everything was done and collected in under 2
minutes. I then went back to my homestay to have a well-deserved rest.
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| Race Kit |
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| With the Bromo volunteers at the Race Kit Collection |
The next day was also spent walking around taking photos of
the picturesque village in the early morning while getting acquainted with the
place. Not a very difficult thing to do considering that this is practically a
one-horse town.
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| Morning comes early in the hillside villages of BTS |
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| Vegetable farming at Tosari |
The villagers were very friendly, and often stopped to greet
you or say hello and exchange a few words of small talk. I was really glad I
could speak Bahasa Malaysia which somehow made it easier to understand the
snippets of Bahasa Indonesia or make myself understood.
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| Running along the narrow paths of the slopes in beautiful Tosari village |
I did a short shake-down test run up the steep crazy slopes
of Tosari that I regretted immediately and left me drained and feeling so unfit
and ill-prepared. That was it. From then on, resting and eating delicious
Indonesian food while waiting for Laurence to finally arrive in the afternoon,
was the order of the day.
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| With Laurence Halvy at the Race Kit Collection |
Laurence met me in the town in the afternoon and after
another brief visit to the race venue, and buying a few necessities, we settled
for a quick and simple Indonesian dinner of Nasi Soto Ayam as a pre-race
carbo-loading meal before parting ways for an early bedtime. Laurence is a true gentleman and paid for the meal.
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| Our simple pre-race carbo-loading meal : Nasi Soto Ayam |
RACE DAY
The day of the race dawned bright and clear. I was refreshed
having been sleeping for 10 hours straight on both days and was naturally
upbeat and raring to go.
I had a quick breakfast and said a prayer to God and to mum.
I knew my family back home was praying for me too and some friends had already
sent their well wishes to me in advance and were rooting for me. I had
determined right from the start, to run this race in honor of my late mother
and also in support of a running buddy who is undergoing a tough time with
health issues.
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| Before the race |
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| Me and Laurence before the race flag-off |
The sun was already high up in the sky at 6:30am by the time
I walked down to the field where the race venue was to meet Laurence. Baggage
drop was smooth and swift. After a few obligatory pictures as usual, Laurence
went off to line up at the starting line. His race – the Full Marathon flagged
off shortly after 7:00am while my race - the Half Marathon flagged off 15 minutes
later at 7:15am.
Huge F1-like flags waved us off at the start at the sound of
the gun going off and to the beat of the Tengger drums. Almost immediately, runners
faced several steep uphill climbs one after another and this was to continue
all the way until the 12th km mark! The terrain turned quickly from
asphalt road to dirt path filled with potholes and gravel and sand with some
small sections of pavement here and there.
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| Me running the dusty dirt trail with a Indonesian runner following hot on my heels (Photo courtesy of Bromo Marathon) |
My strategy was to run / walk the entire race from the
beginning and not over push my limit in the high altitude and thinner air. And
that was exactly what I did, slowing down to a walk when the going got too
tough to bear and picking up the pace again after I got my breath back. The
scenery along the route was simply beautiful, I was glad I slowed down to enjoy
the view although I regretted that I didn't have my camera with me as I didn’t
want the extra weight bouncing around in my hydration pack during the race.
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| Yours truly enjoying my race (Photo courtesy of Bromo Marathon) |
The air felt cool although the sun was blinding and felt hot
on the skin at times. Good thing I was wearing a visor to shield my eyes and
face from the blazing sun.
There were ample water stations and volunteers along the
route. Route marshals were also strategically stationed the whole way, waving
their red flags and leaving no doubt as to which was the correct way to take.
Volunteers were helpful and friendly and filled with smiles while shouting out
their hearty encouragement to runners.
Some parts of the race route took us round and through
little Tenggerese hamlets and villages dotted around the countryside, and the
school kids came out in full force, grinning from ear to ear in their smartly
dressed uniforms, and waving colorful flags while cheering the runners on with joyful
shouts of “Semangat”! “Yay”! and raising their hands for a hi-five!
The local folk came out of their homes and lined the paths
cheering the runners and looking on with radiant smiles and claps. Drum beats
and music could be heard playing from village to village as it bounced off the
mountains and echoed around the countryside. There were also photographers at
almost every bend in the race. I have never seen so many photographers in a
race before.
This is what I call a real spectator cheering atmosphere during a race!
At the 5km mark, we turned up into a very dusty part of the
trail all the way until the 11km. Every runner that went ahead, and motorcycles
plying the route, seemed to kick up enough dust to choke the air I breathed and
blind my sight. I was glad for the Naroo mask I had brought along and wore
after foreseeing this problem and also reading the advice of the organizers on
their Facebook page.
The trail was sandy, actually it was black sand and
incredibly hard to run through. Nevertheless, I slowly plodded along, while
counting down the kilometers before I made it to the 12km mark, just to keep me
going.
Once I broke out of the dusty trail after the 11km mark, the
trail turned into a dirt path along a narrow ridge that afforded me grand views
of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The view was simply amazing and I
had to steel myself not to stop and gape.
Before I knew it, I found that I had reached the highest
point of the race at the Dingklik Lookout approximately 2471 m above sea level
and also the 12km mark.
From then on, the race route was back to the asphalt road
but it was a very steep and winding road indeed that would turn and twist
sharply downward, for a straight 9 kilometers passing several villages along
the way. Even the slopes back in Genting Sempah, could not compare to the
gradient here.
The small of my back started to ache and my quadriceps
started to feel sore while I ran down the steep slopes. In a way, it felt fun
ricocheting down the steep hills like a rocket, feeling the cool wind in my
face and air. Photographers along the way would pick out my outstretched hands
and silly grin as I tore down the slopes at high speed. I picked up so much
speed thanks to the steep gradient, that it got a little uncontrollable at one
point and the ground that I passed by was just a blur.
I was a little concerned whether my legs would not be able
to keep up with the high turnover rate and whether I would stumble and fall.
But I pushed those negative thoughts aside and focused on trying to slow down
and not buckle under. There were also many jeeps coming down the road filled
with tourists after their trip to the Bromo Crater / Sunrise viewing. There was
no traffic control but the jeeps were not going very fast and kept a distance
from me and other runners as long as we stuck to the shoulder of the road.
I recalled coming down this very same way in a jeep myself,
a few days previously while returning from the Bromo Crater and I had made a mental
note then of exactly how many villages I would pass before I would reach the
finish area in Tosari village. I started to look out for landmarks that I would
recognize in each village.
Well, thanks to the steep downward gradient, I made such
good time that I burst into Wonokitri, the final village before Tosari way
before I expected and proceeded to make the final torturous climb into Tosari village
before crossing the Finish Line in 2 hours and 26 minutes.
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| Crossing the finish line with joy! (Photo courtesy of Bromo Marathon) |
The volunteers at the Finish Line were so excited that they
wanted to hug me amidst screams of “Congratulations! You got Second Place!” as
they passed me my medal. I was a bit dazed after that crazy dash around the
hills and having numb cheeks from running through the stinging cold wind that I
could not register at first what they were telling me. When the good news
finally sank in, I could hardly believe my ears!
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| Unexpected 2nd place position |
Thank God for his protection and mercy. As always, I had run
my best, keeping within my limits, telling myself that anything good if it were
meant to happen, would just be a added bonus to my race. So, it was pleasing to
know this race turned out well.
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| One heck of a dusty run! |
Covered with black dust from top to toe, with the taste of
grit and sand in my mouth and between my teeth, I joined the long queue at the
lunch tent and after a long wait, exchanged my lunch coupon for a huge plate of
Nasi Goreng with boiled potatoes which the Tenggerese were famous for growing. I
was just too hungry and tired to clean myself up after the race before first
filling up my tummy.
Messages were exchanged on my mobile between friends and
family telling them of the outcome of my race.
I then returned to my home stay which was a mere 200m away
to shower and change and return to the race venue to wait for Laurence and also
collect my prize. Just shortly after I left my home stay, I saw Laurence
hurtling along the final stretch to home base and cheered him on.
Laurence completed his race in good time and made the 4th
position in 5 hours 4 min. I didn’t have to wait long for the prize giving
ceremony after that which took place shortly after noon. I didn’t even know
what the prizes were as I hadn’t expected to win anything in the first place.
So I was surprised when I received a Garmin multi-sport watch for triathlon
training / racing (hmmm, is that supposed to be a hint that it’s time to try
other things?), 2 t-shirts, some vouchers, a towel and a cap.
For such a small race, the good prizes came as a surprise.
The Woman Half Marathon champion was from USA and the 3rd place
position winner was from The Netherlands. I was congratulated by some fellow
Malaysians when I left the stage, saying that I had made Malaysia proud.
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| Me (in Red) with the Champion and 3rd place position representative at the prize-giving ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Bromo Marathon) |
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| My prize |
LEAVING BTS
I would like to give thanks to Dedik and his wonderful
organizing committee, the sponsors and the volunteers for making this race
possible. It is a challenging race set in a beautiful place and one that I
would never forget for as long as I live.
The hills of the Bromo Tengger Semeru seem to echo “Come
back, come back!” and tug at my heartstrings during my last night in Tosari
that I could not sleep. What more, a young girl’s voice could be heard singing
a sad aria that echoed in the mountains at dusk after the Azan calling for
Waktu Maghrib ended.
Whether I would return in the future or not, that would remain to be seen but I've surely left my heart back in Tosari and the beautiful Bromo Tengger Semeru (BTS) National Park.
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| Yours truly with Mount Batok in the background |
Indeed, you are a Malaysian star!!! <3
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