I've been looking forward to this race for a long time because bromo is one of my favorite volcanoes in Indonesia. It's actualy not just bromo, but the whole surrounding is surreal! This will be my 4th time to see bromo, but this time it will be different...
A week before the race I went there but came in from another side than the main tourist approach. Camped 1 night on b29 viewpoint and hiked to cemoro lawang, the starting point of the race. From there I ran up bromo and up to the main viewpoint twice. I just wanted to have an idea of what the course was gonna be like..and see that wonderful sunrise again bromo is famous for.
The race:
I arrived early that day to pick up my racekit and get to know some other runners. The 100k wasn't gonna start untill 23.30 but I wanted to see the 14 participants of the 170k leaving at 17.00! A tough one with 12000 m of altitude gain.
After they started I went for a short nap.
At 23.00 we Were all (70k and 102k) getting exited and half an hour later we went.
Four of us took the lead, one french two Indonesians and myself. Two 70k and two 102k runners.
It stayed that way untill one of the Indonesians started to speed up. Afterwards we heard he got lost and is now behind us.
At a certain point we had to backtrack and on our way back we saw a group of five about 20 min behind us.
As we were too busy keeping our position safe we missed a turn off and went back too far! It took about 15 minutes before we found out and turned back! ( I wonder if I will ever be able to run a trail without any detour? ) :-)
So now it was a different situation, the group of five was now ahead of us! But they couldn't be far so we went after them.
About an hour later we saw them in the distance and the Indonesian and I caught up with them leaving the french guy behind.
At the 54k waterstation (dropbag point) I changed clothes, while the Indonesian guy went on and so did one of the other five. Both running 102k, So I was third now.
5 min later I left as well.
Half an hour later...who did I see there? Yes mr indo. He was suffering now, so I could easily pass him and go looking for the leader at that time. The moment I reached the top of bromo they told me he was 15 min ahead of me so there was still hope. And after an hour I could see him in the distance. Soon after
We were running together, he told me he was exhausted and I should go for it! So That's exactly what I did! :-) after a big loop I arrived at the canyon, which reminded me of the transylvania trail in Romania last september. About 2km of climbing rocks and ladders. Reaching the waterstation at the end of the canyon the man told me to go back to the start of the canyon in order to climb the next mountain, Mt batok! I asked him 4 times: are you sure? Yes he said! Meanwhile the second runner had arrived as well. Halfway the canyon I met 3 other runners and one of the organizers...then I was sure...this isn't right!!! Apparently the start of the climb was right next to the waterstation! It realy wasn't funny at that moment! I started to climb immediatly while the others filled up on nutrition, which I had already done! The next 10k, I was all by myself! 2km flat and a long 8km uphill! This would also be the last climb. Reaching the last waterstation at the viewpoint I took a bit longer than usual...on my way back for the last 8k down to the finish I saw nr 2. He was about 10 min behind me. I hurried down, although my toes Were in terrible pain and I had a big blister. At the finish things Were rather quiet! I was expecting a big crowd cheering for me, beautiful girl handing me flowers, interview, tv...Hahaha...It felt weird! I think my mind had not yet accepted the fact that I won! It wasn't untill next morning that I started to get emotional, and I felt like the happiest person on the planet! :-)
Facts:
-Only 2 finishers at the 170k
Hayashi Naoya in 43.25 hours and Katja Fink in 45.22 hours
-14 finishers at 102
Where the Winner was some guy from Belgium in 21 hours beating the course record with nearly 3 hours.
-Food stations Were plenty but not very nutritious.
-People at food stations are helpful but not always well informed
-no results available yet of the 70k and 30k.
-and the downloading doesn't seem to work so no pictures on this blog!
A week before the race I went there but came in from another side than the main tourist approach. Camped 1 night on b29 viewpoint and hiked to cemoro lawang, the starting point of the race. From there I ran up bromo and up to the main viewpoint twice. I just wanted to have an idea of what the course was gonna be like..and see that wonderful sunrise again bromo is famous for.
The race:
I arrived early that day to pick up my racekit and get to know some other runners. The 100k wasn't gonna start untill 23.30 but I wanted to see the 14 participants of the 170k leaving at 17.00! A tough one with 12000 m of altitude gain.
After they started I went for a short nap.
At 23.00 we Were all (70k and 102k) getting exited and half an hour later we went.
Four of us took the lead, one french two Indonesians and myself. Two 70k and two 102k runners.
It stayed that way untill one of the Indonesians started to speed up. Afterwards we heard he got lost and is now behind us.
At a certain point we had to backtrack and on our way back we saw a group of five about 20 min behind us.
As we were too busy keeping our position safe we missed a turn off and went back too far! It took about 15 minutes before we found out and turned back! ( I wonder if I will ever be able to run a trail without any detour? ) :-)
So now it was a different situation, the group of five was now ahead of us! But they couldn't be far so we went after them.
About an hour later we saw them in the distance and the Indonesian and I caught up with them leaving the french guy behind.
At the 54k waterstation (dropbag point) I changed clothes, while the Indonesian guy went on and so did one of the other five. Both running 102k, So I was third now.
5 min later I left as well.
Half an hour later...who did I see there? Yes mr indo. He was suffering now, so I could easily pass him and go looking for the leader at that time. The moment I reached the top of bromo they told me he was 15 min ahead of me so there was still hope. And after an hour I could see him in the distance. Soon after
We were running together, he told me he was exhausted and I should go for it! So That's exactly what I did! :-) after a big loop I arrived at the canyon, which reminded me of the transylvania trail in Romania last september. About 2km of climbing rocks and ladders. Reaching the waterstation at the end of the canyon the man told me to go back to the start of the canyon in order to climb the next mountain, Mt batok! I asked him 4 times: are you sure? Yes he said! Meanwhile the second runner had arrived as well. Halfway the canyon I met 3 other runners and one of the organizers...then I was sure...this isn't right!!! Apparently the start of the climb was right next to the waterstation! It realy wasn't funny at that moment! I started to climb immediatly while the others filled up on nutrition, which I had already done! The next 10k, I was all by myself! 2km flat and a long 8km uphill! This would also be the last climb. Reaching the last waterstation at the viewpoint I took a bit longer than usual...on my way back for the last 8k down to the finish I saw nr 2. He was about 10 min behind me. I hurried down, although my toes Were in terrible pain and I had a big blister. At the finish things Were rather quiet! I was expecting a big crowd cheering for me, beautiful girl handing me flowers, interview, tv...Hahaha...It felt weird! I think my mind had not yet accepted the fact that I won! It wasn't untill next morning that I started to get emotional, and I felt like the happiest person on the planet! :-)
Facts:
-Only 2 finishers at the 170k
Hayashi Naoya in 43.25 hours and Katja Fink in 45.22 hours
-14 finishers at 102
Where the Winner was some guy from Belgium in 21 hours beating the course record with nearly 3 hours.
-Food stations Were plenty but not very nutritious.
-People at food stations are helpful but not always well informed
-no results available yet of the 70k and 30k.
-and the downloading doesn't seem to work so no pictures on this blog!