“Actually, I thought I’d had enough and that this was not for me anymore, but I feel challenged to take another shot and hopefully this time I can conquer the Sumbawa,” said Lily Suryani, 52. This year, she participates in the 320-kilometer-long Lintas Sumbawa cross-country run. The sports event is being held as part of the 2017 Tambora Charms Festival.
This is Lily’s third time participating in the race, the one with the longest distance in Southeast Asia. Since it was first held in 2015, the runner from Denpasar, Bali, had always participated, but had never reached the finish line.
In 2015, Lily could only complete 270 kilometers, after which she experienced so much fatigue that she suffered from temporary memory loss. In the 2016 event, the harsh conditions caused Lily to hallucinate and to stop after 280 kilometers. “I was hallucinating, perhaps because the heat was just too much for me,” she said.
This year, Lily said she was optimistic that she could reach the finish line, even if the terrain was equally difficult and the weather equally challenging as those in previous years. “What’s important is to reach the finish line even if I go over the pre-determined period of 72 hours,” she said on Monday (3/4/2017).
The Lintas Sumbawa, being run this year from April 5 to 8, is part of the Tambora Charms Festival held by the Tourism Ministry, the West Nusa Tenggara provincial government, the local administrations of cities and regencies and Kompas daily. The event started in Pototano, West Sumbawa, on Wednesday (5/4/2017) at about 3 p.m. and will finish at the foothills of Mount Tambora in Doro Ncanga, Dompu regency, on Saturday (8/4/2017) afternoon.
On Tuesday (4/4) evening, a majority of the participants had arrived in Taliwang, the capital city of West Sumbawa. Before resting for the night, they all enjoyed the beautiful views of Mantar village, dubbed “The Land above the Clouds”.
Lintas Sumbawa race director Lexi Rohi said that 27 people were to participate in Lintas Sumbawa: 15 individual and 12 relay participants. In the relay category, a team consists of two persons – making a total of six teams for the event.
Individual runners will have to complete the 320 kilometers on their own with a cut-off time of 72 hours. Relay competitors will take turns running the 320-kilometer route, with each runner completing 160 kilometers.
“This is the first time we are holding the relay category in order to accommodate runners who wish to participate in Lintas Sumbawa but are not ready to do the whole 320 kilometers,” Lexi said.
“Veterans”
A number of participants in the Lintas Sumbawa event are veterans of the previous years’ events. In the individual category, other than Lily, there is also Abdul Azis Dermawan, 23, who had also competed twice in the event. As with Lily, Azis has never reached the finish line. “I am still curious about if I can finish the event,” said the runner from Bandung, West Java.
In 2015, Azis was injured and had to stop at 185 kilometers. The next year, he stopped at 75 kilometers because of a lack of nutritional intake. “I have learned from my previous participation,” he said.
Vernando Hutagaol, 39, who participated last year, also said that he wanted to run again this year out of curiosity over his ability to complete the event. “Last year, it was raining in the nights and so hot during the days. There were no trees for shade. It was just asphalt roads everywhere,” said the runner from South Jakarta.
Another event veteran in this year’s Lintas Sumbawa is defending champion Matheos Berhitu, 44.
Other than these four, the other veteran participants in the individual category this year are Eni Rosita and Adlan Djohan aka Mak Del.
Newcomers
There are many newcomers in this year’s running event. However, they are not new faces in the ultra-marathon scene. Eko Ryzananto, 49, participated in the 100-kilometer category of the Tambora Challenge race, held at almost the same time as the 320-kilometer Lintas Sumbawa last year.
“This time, it’s going to be harder, but it is better to try this out instead of remaining curious. I believe I can finish this,” said Eko, who comes from Jakarta.
Another newcomer is Syafrudin, 34. A cleaning service officer at the Dompu Police office, he came third in the 25-kilometer category in last year’s Tambora Challenge. “I’ve been running 40 to 45 kilometers a day to prepare for this,” he said.
This year’s Lintas Sumbawa will also be a place where Second Cpl. Yohanis Hiariej, 33, a member of the Raider 509 Infantry Battalion/Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Jember, East Java, might prove himself. The Ambonese man, who is Matheos Berhitu’s cousin, said that he wished to beat Alan Maulana’s time record of completing the 320 kilometers in 2015 in 62 hours and 28 minutes. “I want to complete the run in 60 hours,” Yohanis said.
Relay
There are a number of experienced runners in the relay category. Lydia Sabarudin, 39, from Tangerang, Banten, participated in the 25-kilometer and 30-kilometer categories in the Tambora Challenge event. He also completed the 100-kilometer Jakarta Ultra in 2015 and the 145-kilometer Nusanta Run in 2016. Lydia is pairing with Garry Agusta Santoso, 25, in this year’s Lintas Sumbawa.
Another participant, Ina Budiyarni, 39, was the fastest female runner in the 100-kilometer category in the 2016 Tambora Challenge. In this year’s Lintas Sumbawa, Ina is pairing with Mila Marlina, 45.
Ina’s competitors in the 100-kilometer Tambora Challenge run last year, Siti Maemunah, 33, and Novita Wulandari, 45, are also participating in the relay category in this year’s Lintas Sumbawa. Siti and Novita paired with each other.
The competition in the relay category becomes more interesting as Oktavianus Quaasalmy, 33, the fastest male runner in the 100-kilometer category of last year’s Tambora Challenge, is also present. Oktavianus is pairing with Rizki Triadi Dewata, 26.
