After Singapore

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more

Long Weekends Part 5: Pocari Sweat Run

I woke up probably 4AM in the morning. Having prepared everything the day before, it didn’t much of hassle for me before A picked me up at 4.45. A and his wife D drove a car, picked me up in front of my housing complex, and drove us to the Pocari Sweat Run venue. This was one of the biggest running events in Indonesia. I participated in their 5km run back in 2019, but then stopped participating due to pandemic. In this 2022 event, there was no longer 5km run; only 10km or longer. Offline event only available for those submitting the ballot, got lucky, and willing to pay IDR 600.000. It was pretty expensive, but it also helped to push me to train harder because such expensive finisher medal was only given if the runner finished within 1 hour and 45 minutes.

We arrived at the venue somewhere around 5.15. A lost his pins to attach the bib to his shirt. I shared two of mine, so we both can run easily without holding the bib all the way. We took a selfie and another picture of those special runners tied to some baloons. They were the pacers, who would run at specified speed so that other runners can measure their own pace by looking at them in the vicinity.

Me and A doing selfie before run
The pacers

6 AM sharp was the flag-off for 10km run. West Java governor Ridwan Kamil was there as the frontmost contestant. For the rest, runners were divided into three groups, to disperse crowds. I and A were in the last group, and we decided to wait until the crowd dispersed even more before started running, due to fear of COVID-19.

We had a nice easy run at first, mostly because there were many runners around us. After running for half an hour, half of the runners were already behind us, and we could paced up. A was relatively fitter than me, and for the last kilometer, I asked him to run first and not wait for me. Fortunately, nearing the finish line I managed catch up and we finished almost together.

Finished in one hour eighteen minutes

D waited us at the finish line (but outside the area reserved for runners). After taking our finisher medals, I and A went out and look for her. It was not an easy task, since there were many people around to see this event. I and A took a chance to take a picture with our medals.

Me and A holding the finisher medals

Afterwards, we had our (second) breakfast at Toko You. This was a hidden gem located near Borromeus hospital. It was a relatively cool place with trees around the corner. Inside there were also some antiques like old motorcycle and circus bicycle. A and D recommended me a beer, and it was not disappointing. Just look at this beauty below.