BII Maybank Bali Marathon 2012

It was my dream to do a marathon in as many countries as possible.  So when I heard that there was a Bali Marathon in Indonesia, I signed up for the full marathon without any hesitation.  (Few years back, I read about the Bali Marathon but the Half Marathon category was the longest distance being offered.)  Registration via the website was very easy.  I paid US$40.00 - the early bird price for international runners.  (After early bird period, international runners had to pay US$60.00.)  The website also contained recommendation for hotels and beach resorts, as well as free shuttle to transport runners to and from the race start/finish.  By end of 2011, I have also booked my return flights to/from Bali!  :)

Race Packet Collection

I arrived in Bali on the same Jetstar flight as Ben Swee, Tee Lee, Joanne, David Wong, and Esther.  Tee Lee, Joanne, Ben and I shared a cab to Sanur Beach Hotel, also the host hotel, to collect our race packet, which cost us 95,000 Rupiah.  Traffic was slow in the first half of the journey but smooth flowing in the second half of the journey.  The trip to Sanur Beach Hotel was about 30~40mins from the airport.  At the entrance of the hotel we saw a few Kenyan runners with their race packets.  While walking towards the rack packet collection point, we saw more Kenyan runners!  We met David Wong at the race packet collection.  Collection was smooth as the queue was short.  After collecting our packets, we had to activate our timing chip at the chip counter.  Then we walked around the expo though we didn't venture much as we had yet to have lunch and were all very hungry.  We called for a taxi to take us to Sanur Agung Hotel, where I stayed and the rest to Diwankara Holiday Villa Beach Resort, which was about 600m away.  Before they left, we agreed to meet again in an hour's time - either I walked to their beach resort, or they walked to my hotel.

 Host Hotel - Sanur Beach Hotel Race Packet Collection

Carbo Loading Dinner

After I checked into my hotel, I connected my Facebook account via the hotel's free wifi and sent Dewi a message.  Dewi and I would be sharing the room but she took a afternoon flight and would arrive later.  I checked the items in my race packet and put Dewi's one on her side of the bed.  Then, I took a slow walk to Diwankara Beach Resort.  About 300m from my hotel, stood the Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel next to the main junction - this was where runners would assemble to board the pick-up shuttle to the race start/finish.  Another 300m later, I was standing at the entrance of Diwankara Beach Resort.  I went into the resort's lobby where I saw Ben Swee, Tee Lee and Joanne.  They were busy trying to login to their Whatsapp when I got a sms from Dewi.  She had just settled in nicely in our room and wondered where I was!  I replied to tell her that I would walk back to Sanur Agung Hotel while the rest decide where to have dinner.  Before I left, we agreed that once they were ready to move, they would walk towards my hotel's direction to check out the restaurants and cafes along that stretch of road.

It took me about 10mins to get back to Sanur Agung Hotel.  Dewi had just checked out the contents in her race packet.  I told her the plan and we both walked towards Diwankara Beach Resort's direction.  Crossing the road at the main junction was a big challenge.  You just had to be extra careful.  Even Dewi wasn't sure of their traffic light system even though she was from Jakarta.  We met up with them at the Dunkin Donuts located next to the junction.  After looking at the various options available, we went back to Made Two Bar & Restaurant when the waitress promised us a free serving of ice-cream!  I ordered a plate of Nasir Goreng.  The serving was alright but I still felt hungry after finishing my main course and ice cream.  Apparently, Ben Swee and Tee Lee also felt the same way.  So we went to KFC for 2nd round of dinner!  Unfortunately, they didn't have meshed potato nor coleslaw.  :(  So I ordered a Pepsi while Ben had a soup and Tee Lee had vegetable salad.  After part 2 of the program, we went back to our respective hotel for an early rest since we had to catch the 3.30am bus to the start.

Bali Marathon 2012

I had no problem to fall asleep and woke up at around 2.40am.  Dewi was awake by then.  We quickly changed into our gear before leaving for Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel.  We saw many buses at the hotel as well as Tekko and Molly, who arrived in Bali a day earlier than us.  As soon as a bus was filled with runners, it moved off to the start.  Traffic was smooth and we reached the start/finish point about 20~25mins later.  We (Dewi, Ben, Tee Lee, Joanne and me) agreed that we would wait at the entrance just after the start/finish point, and take the 12.30 bus back to the hotel.  I decided to use the mobile toilet to relieve myself before the start of the race.  Luckily I made my decision earlier while the queue was short.  I made my way to the start as participants for the full marathon would be flagged off at 5.00am while those running the half would be flagged off at 5.30am and the 10km runners would start at 6.00am.  As soon as the race started, I settled into my easy pace (or so I thought) while many runners zoomed past me.  I noticed some volunteers holding on to some kind of bamboo stick with fire lighted up at the top of the stick in their traditional costumes for the first 200~300m.  The street was very dark as there were no street lights.  Luckily it was a highway although I noted some cracks.  That stretch of road is mostly flat.  I crossed the 5km timing mat at around 32mins (which I thought was a little fast).  I tried to slow down but I still clocked around 32mins when I crossed the timing mat at 10km.  I reckoned that it was due to the cool weather in the morning.  Also, Bali seemed to be less humid as compared to Singapore.  I took about 34mins for the next 5km and the sun soon rose.

We ran through a few villages and at every village, there were many young kids in uniformed lining up and cheering us!  There were also adults, some with babies and young children, sitting outside their homes and clapping for us as we ran past them.  You won't find such support running in Singapore.  There were police presence at every junction to direct traffic.  In fact, the locals didn't seem to get frustrated at not being able to use the road.  At some villages, there were traditional performances and I just had to stop to take in the atmosphere.  It was awesome.  As for the aid stations, which was positioned approximately about every 2.5km, they served mainly water although some had isotonic drink and fruits.  As the day got brighter, the weather got warmer though surprisingly, I could still feel the cool wind even at 8am.  However, I had by then slowed down a great deal as it was difficult to pick up my momentum after stopping for photos every now and then.  :p  It was a great excuse to slow down and high-five with the children lining the streets!  Besides the supporters along some parts of the route, you could see some local infrastructures, monuments, and building for worship, as well as padi fields at other sections.

After around the 25~28km, I was running / walking stride for stride with an ang moh man.  I asked him if we were able to complete by 11am (6 hours) if we continued at that speed.  He commented that we would probably finished at around 10.15am.  (Really? That was too fast!)  This was because the last 7km was a slight downhill.  So I decided to slow down even more!  But more importantly, I was trying to conserve my water as it was getting hotter.  At one point, I almost ran out of water after gulping down a large chunk while trying to push down a packet of GU power gel, which tasted horrible and almost made me puked.  Luckily, there was a group of volunteers on a small roving truck, handing out bottle of water to the runners!  At around 31.5km, we merged with the half marathoners and I began to countdown the km markers.  The last quarter of the marathon did had a downhill profile but some sections of the road had no shade and the sun was scorching hot.  There were still supporters out there but were mostly young kids.

After I saw the 41km mark, I knew the end was really close.  After about 200~300m, we ran out onto the highway back to the start / finish point!  There was almost zero shade along the highway but most runners would still ran the width of the highway to reach the other side of the road where little shade could be found along some pockets of the highway.  At about 100m away from the start / finish point, I heard a familiar voice shouting encouragement to me - Esther!  By then, I was quite fried and barely had enough energy to cross the finish line in 5:51:09 (gun time).  Marathon in Indonesia - CHECKED!  Finisher then had to make their way into the Bali Safari Marine Park to collect their finisher medal and tee-shirt, as well as returning the timing chip.  I saw Dewi, who looked well rested at the timing chip area.  According to her, there were still volunteers who helped them cut the cable tie when she finished at around 10.10am (Dewi's gun time was 5:11:01).  We merry up with the rest, exchanged our war stories before managing to hitch hike a ride back to Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel.  We managed to check out of our hotel by 1pm before I left for the airport.  (Visitors to Bali might wish to take note of the 150,000 ruppiah airport tax requirement when flying out of Bali).

Conclusion:  The organisation of the race was top notch.  Buses were provided at major towns (Sanur, Kuta, Ubud and Nusa Dua) to and from the race start / finish.  There were sufficient aid stations along the route although one or two of the stations almost ran out of water.  We have to applaud the organiser who was quick addressed the situation by getting roving vehicles to assist runners who ran out of water.  The supporters were really friendly.  Some of them would probably had to wake up early to put on their traditional costumes while other would continue waiting for the back-of-the-pack runners.  They deserved a big THANK YOU!  The route was generally easy, saved for some sections of the route with steep hill (up and down), which made running kind of dangerous.  If only they stationed the collection of baggage, medal, tee-shirt, and food/drink nearer to the start / finish point, it would have been a perfect race (less the weather).  A highly recommended must-do race.  :)  Race Ratings: 9.5/10.