I Came In 4th And Won Big! Not Today Blog 9

After my first marathon in Tokyo in March 2019, I wanted to get back into running. Who would have thought that I would win 100 EUR in a half marathon in Indonesia?

Life Moves Pretty Fast

16 weeks until my 2^nd running event in 2019. Instead of racing another marathon, I decided to go for a half marathon. I couldn’t be arsed to have my ankles all puffy and sore for weeks again. This was a great opportunity to test one of Garmin’s heart rate training programs. I soon found the perfect one. “16 Weeks to Half Marathon – Advanced – 4 Training sessions per week”

There was me and my Garmin Fenix 5 Plus. Ready for another adventure.

Life moves pretty fast sometimes and so did the 16 weeks. My watch had it all planned out. All I had to do is push activity mode and keep within the desired heart rate zones.

Jungle Race

I signed up for the only half marathon in Indonesia happening on the date my training plan would finish. “RUN For Sustainable Oil Palm” North Sumatra, Indonesia Sunday, October 13^th, 2019

A race in the middle of the jungle in Indonesia surrounded by palm trees in a location that can’t be found on Google Maps. My favourite kind of adventure!

Listen to your sister Morty; to live is to risk it all; otherwise you’re just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules drifting wherever the universe blows you.

Rick Sanchez

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It’s the first day of summer. Look it up.

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Noodle Soups In The Middle Of Nowhere

My flight landed on Friday morning in Medan. I had booked a driver to take me to a village three hours south of Medan to visit a factory where my mother’s company was installing a plant.

As luck would have it, the factory’s production manager, Pak Anto, happened to live in a village 30-minute drive away from where my half marathon was taking place. The next day he took me to the city of Tebing Tinggi.

During the two hour drive, we had an intriguing talk about Buddhism. He shared his views on life-based on his religion.

Pak Anto’s hometown was known for “Mi Rebus Tambi” – a sweet-spicy Indian-influenced noodle soup nowhere else to be found in Indonesia. I loved it! Compared to usual Indonesian noodle soups, which are usually thin instant noodles, Mi Rebus Tambi uses proper thick noodles.

The area around Tebing Tinggi is famous for its diversity. Many people have Indian, Malay and Chinese origins and you can taste it in the food.

Sleeping With The Lights On

I spent the night at “Ray Inn Hotel”. A very clean place but there was room for improvement (no pun intended). For example, if you switch off the main light, all power is turned off – including aircon and sockets.

It sucks to sleep with the lights on, I tell you that. Haha!

Pak Anto picked me up at 4 am (!) the next day to drive me to the half marathon venue. What a legend. A person I have never met before was personifying the Indonesian hospitality that I have experienced on so many occasions over the past three years.

I learned that day that if you ask politely if you could pitch in on gas money or pay for someone’s food as a gesture of gratitude, people accept. No awkwardness, you just need to be open and straightforward.

Winning

6 am. Starting Shot.

Mud and sand the whole course. I was prepared for asphalt and so were my shoes.

I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to set a new personal best. The race was amazing. The air was fresh and the participants were competitive. I got in at 2:04:55. To my surprise, I was given a backstage pass. It read “Potential Winner 4^th.

I had no clue this was coming.

It was only then I realised that one of the winner’s categories was “Top 5 International Runners”.

There were literally 10 international runners in the event. Easy to understand considering the race took place in a remote area of Sumatra. I was about an hour slower than the fastest runner. But apparently, this didn’t matter because my category did not have much competition.

I was the 4^th fastest international runner! The award ceremony was huge. And a bit later I was given an envelope with 1.500.000 Rupiah (100 EUR) in cash.

Winning when you least expect it must be a little reminder from the universe trying to tell you that you’re on the right track. Even when progress is slow.

Taking A Detour Home

The organiser had a free shuttle bus back to Medan from where I was taking a flight back to Jakarta later in the evening.  But the race location had no showers. I was about to arrive in Medan still in running gear and not the best smell on me. Google told me that Medan’s Kualanamu Airport also didn’t have showers. Then I remembered my friend Apul had sent me his congratulations on my Instagram story. I asked him whether he knew a place in Medan where I could get a shower before going to the airport.

Again, as luck would have it, Medan had a couple of RedDoorz accommodations. Apul has been working for RedDoorz for a couple of months now and replied to my questions with a booking receipt for a room 10 minutes from the airport. Thanks, Apul! You are a legend.

I went for the best hot shower, the best nap in the coldest aircon setting possible and went for an amazing dinner just down the street.

I later arrived at the airport and spotted showers straight away. But that’s another story.

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Why Not Today

I could have planned this out better. But look how this turned out to be the smoothest trip.

You love a bit of adventure too, don’t you? Why not pack a tent, jump in the car and drive up to the nearest mountain and go for a hike? Is camping in the mountains a thing? It might be from today onwards. Yeah right, why not today? It’s Friday. The weekend has just begun.

Stay healthy.

D

Thanks Mon for your help with this one!