Running 2014 : 5K Yamaha Glow Run Bandung, 1 Maret 2014

Setelah mencocokkan kalender  ibunda saya di Bdg ke dokter dan kalender lari di www.DuniaLari.com, saya menemukan kecocokan di tanggal 1 Maret 2014: Yamaha Glow Run di Bandung. Kebetulan hari itu, saya janji antar Ibu ke dokter giginya.

Kayaknya bakal seru juga nih. Saya blm pernah lari malem-malem, belum pernah lari di jalanan kota Bandung, belum pernah lari disambung acara party. Dari foto di website Yamaha, acara Yamaha Glow Run di Jakarta, Surabaya dan Semarang kelihatan rame dan cukup sukses. Biaya hanya Rp75ribu dan lokasinya di pusat Kota Bandung yang mudah dijangkau.

There is also one thing alluring me. Guess who was standing there in Jakarta's event, ready to tear the start ribbon? Yup..the legendary Ms. Yuli R. from my office. She's such an inspiration in running: bold, exist, and persistent. So, why not trying?

Sayangnya pendaftaran online udah tutup. Ya sud, akhirnya saya telpon panitia di Bdg dan masuk waiting list utk pendaftaran offline di Radio Oz Bandung. Untungnya saya di-sms panitia dan bs nitip ke adik saya @andrymuhammad99 utk daftarin sekaligus ambil race pack di Balai Kota Bandung.

Peserta memperoleh kaos singlet dan nomor dada. Glow stick dan glowing cream dibagikan di lokasi race. Ngga ada timing chip, jadi memang kayanya acara lebih difokuskan pada unsur fun and glowing-nya. Don't worry about time record; just come, run, and have some fun. Cucok dengan saya...hueehehe.

Abis magrib, saya datang ke Balai Kota Bdg sendirian karena adik saya masih sakit lututnya. Babe ngga ikut ke Bdg karena training di Magelang. Temen-temen kampus di Bdg kayaknya ngga berminat: "Gua mah ngga suka lari" atau "Ihh apa sih enaknya? Udah capek, keringetan, udah pasti nggak menang lagi...". Dan saya sengaja ngga ajak Miss K karena acaranya malam.

Walhasil saya tersesat sendirian di tengah gerombolan pelari, penikmat acara heboh, bercampur baur dengan remaja dan ABG yang niatnya emang nongkrong rame-rame di Balai Kota Bandung. Pas antri glow stick, saya diomelin akang panitia, "Lho, KAMU kan tadi udah antri dapetin stick-nya. Kok masih minta?"

Haaahh??? *nasib muka/ukuran pasaran* Setelah dapet 4 glow stick, saya duduk di tenda dekat penitipan barang sembari melihat ekspreasi peserta lain yang beraneka ragam. Lagi bengong-bengong gitu, ditanya sama ABG ngga begitu jauh usianya ama Miss K, "Tante punya peniti ngga buat bib? Punya aku ilang." Saya langsung kasih 1 peniti sisa. Nggak lama, muncul temannya, "Tante masih punya lagi nggak?" Hehehe...kocak banget. Lain kali ikutan lari, ajak Mama sekalian yaa..biar nggak ada barang ilang atau ketinggalan.

Saya sempat berburu foto bareng dengan 2 ABG peserta berkostum cosplay. Setelah itu nebeng difotoin di depan race board (jaga-jaga abis finish ada antri panjang). Oh iya, yang namanya tongsis emang lagi mendunia nih. Ampir setiap ABG dan anak muda jaman sekarang di balai kota malem itu pasti pake tongsis utk ber-selfie. Yang ngga bawa atau ngga punya, nebeng mejeng ama temennya. Wuidiii..hebohnya ngga keruan deh.

Nggak lama kemudian MC memanggil para peserta merapat ke depan panggung. Panggungnya udah dilengkapi tata cahaya lampu, musik jedak-jeduk, sekaligus Mbak DJ yang seksi berbalut gaun mini warna putih. Setelah beberapa saat, muncul Rio Dewanto sebagai brand ambassador Yamaha. Sesi foto bareng Rio Dewanto juga ngga kalah seru.

Lagi enak-enak nyari spot buat liatin Rio Dewanto, saya disamperin lagi ama ABG yang lain. "Tan, tolong fotoin kita dong." Wooo, minta difotoin tho.. Kirain mau foto bareng saya, hehehe. Those teens were gathered all around: clapping, laughing, tongue-out posing; not even bother about the possibility of huffing and puffing in delicate pain when the running begins. Oo, how God bless the youngsters! *nggak berasa dah tante-tante*

Akhirnya setelah 10 menit pemanasan dipandu salah satu anggota @Indorunners, acara lari berkilau dimulai sekitar jam 7. Sepanjang 1.5 km pertama kita diajak nanjak (elevasi sekitar 3%) dari Jl.Wastukancana sampai Jl.Dago.

Tanjakan itu langsung dibayar kontan dengan turunan sepanjang Jl.Diponegoro, Jl. Cisangkuy, dan Jl. Cilaki. Larinya enak bener deh di situ. Kayak ada yang ngedorong. Saya nggak ambil air minum karena bawa air sendiri (soalnya kebayang tenggorokan bakal kering, lari di tengah asap knalpot hehe). Oh iya, biasanya penonton race kan berdiri di pinggir jalan kasih semangat ke pelari. Nah, malem itu supporternya pada naik mobil, buka jendela, ngerokok dan teriak-teriak nyemangatin temen yang sedang lari. Hihihi... Wasn't it ironic?. Pokoknya paket pengalamannya dapet banget deh malem itu.

Ketika melalui KFC Jl.Cihapit, mulai deh pelari bersaing dengan mobil, motor, dan angkot. Waduuuh, kita ngisepin asap jadinya. Tampaknya panitia juga tetap harus berbagi dengan pengguna jalan lainnya (kan bukan car free night).

'Keseruan' muncul di sepanjang Jl.Martadinata, tempat di mana factory outlet dan warung tenda makanan bertebaran. Waduuuh, wangi sate yang lagi dibakar, ayam goreng, mie rebus, sampe Indomie cukup menggoyahkan konsentrasi pelari yang mesti lari nyelip-nyelip motor/mobil di pinggir jalan.

Kilometer terakhir ditempuh di Jl.Merdeka. Kayanya jalanan dah 99% ngga bisa diselamatkan lagi dari kendaraan bermotor. Marshal/polisinya ada sih di situ, tapi nggak ngapa-ngapain di pusat keramaian depan BIP. Peserta mesti rajin tengok kanan-kiri daripada kesenggol motor atau tubrukan dengan pasangan yang lagi malming gandengan tangan ngga bisa dipisahin (awww...).

Akhirnya sampai juga di finish gate. Dari sisi catatan waktu, beneran saya ngga ada kemajuan... hahaha. If I run slow, who cares anyway? Saya masih dapet nomer undian soe-sam-dji (432) dan medali dari Yamaha.

Setelah refill botol dengan Pocari dan menyambar pisang, saya istirahat sebentar dan siap-siap pulang. Dah puas rasanya dapet pengalaman seru malam itu. I’d say the experience was worth the time and money.

Neng Joe telpon, katanya dia dan Mulli beserta kakak + adek udah sampai di Balai Kota. Niatnya mau nemuin saya, geleng-geleng kepala bareng sambil ngeliatin para ABG jedak-jeduk, lalu anter saya pulang (so sweeeet... Thank you, Bun). Tapi sayangnya, saya terima telpon pas udah di angkot Kalapa-Ledeng.

Malam itu, saya berangkat tidur sambil cerita ke Miss K ttg Glow Run Yamaha. Dia seneng banget dapet glow stick, "Keren banget nih barang! Kapan-kapan, kalo glow run diadain siang, ajakin aku ya, Bu".  Huahahaaaa... Sungguh anak yang aneh.

2013 Running Recap Part 3 : Standard Chartered Half Marathon 2013

Standard Chartered Run for a Reason - 24 November 2013  BSD Green Office Park

Akhirnya berani juga ikutan 10K. Jadi ini 10K resmi saya yang pertama. Pernah sih nyoba lari di CFD hari Minggu sampe 10K tapi yaahh begitu deh, diseling jalan. Tapi daripada ngga pernah nyoba, akhirnya nekat aja daftar RUN for A REASON by Standard Chartered Half Marathon 2013.  Reason saya ya itu tadi, to give myself a try. Selain itu berhubung tahun ini adalah 10 tahun saya bergabung sama kantor dan sempat pula having an anniversary retreat ke Pulau Macan bulan April 2013 lalu, maka reason berikutnya adalah celebrating 10 years of workplace friendships.




Beberapa pengalaman dari run race yang diselenggarakan oleh Standard Chartered yang berkesan adalah pas pengambilan race pack, pas berangkat menuju venue, dan pas larinya sendiri. Saya ambil race pack kebetulan bukan di hari pertama (Kamis), tapi baru sempet ke Menara Standard Chartered hari Jumat siang. Meskipun siang-siang jam 11.30-an nggak terlihat antrian, tapi pas ambil kaos...dapat jatah ukuran L. Yaaahhh... padahal kan udah ngisi ukuran kaos S. Alasan panitia karena udah kehabisan ukuran kecil. Idih, bukannya tujuan didata ukuran kaos peserta supaya ngga kejadian abis ukuran tertentu gitu ya? Masih untung saya dapet bib number berlatar belakang hijau dengan tanda 10K sesuai dengan yang ada di website pendaftaran.


Bib Number 10K pertamaku: 2-666 boleh jadi nomer keberuntungan dong yaa... kan ada angka 2 nya hehe

Berhubung ada masalah dengan konfirmasi pendaftaran Babeh Aris, akhirnya dia dapat bib number berlatar belakang warna ungu, tandanya itu bib cadangan buat yang bermasalah. Itu pun baru bisa saya dapatkan setelah saya balik lagi sore harinya ke Menara Standard Chartered dengan membawa surat pernyataan dan surat kuasa mengambilkan race pack. Cp deehhh... Sore itu saya juga ketemu sama gadis-gadis BI Runners beneran yang mau ikutan HM. Mereka juga rada manyun dengan masalah pendaftaran, yang ternyata terjadi juga tahun lalu.




Pengalaman berikutnya: ketinggalan shuttle bus dari Sarinah Thamrin menyebabkan kerugian dari sisi waktu dan biaya. Seperti biasa, saya rada lelet kalo urusan bangun pagi. Shuttle bus tersedia jam 4.00 am dan saya baru keluar rumah jam 3.40an. Supir taksi udah kami perintahkan untuk ngebut hehhehe.. tapi apa daya, paaas sampai di Jl. Sunda, pas banget bisnya pergi dan udah ngga bisa diberhentikan lagi. Akhirnya kami naik taksi ke BSD, pake acara nyasar pula. Walhasil kocek berkurang Rp200ribu deh. It was definitely not the reason for my running that day! Sebagai ibu-ibu yang rada pelit soal budget, sebel juga sih harus berkorban hanya gara-gara saya telat.




Nah ini dia pengalaman lari 10K. Saya dan Babeh udah biasa lari masing-masing aja jadi setelah "Goodbye, see you at the finish line" saya langsung melipir ke arah belakang supaya ngga ngalingin kiper hehehe... Sambil pemanasan saya sempet-sempetnya lihat kanan-kiri, seneng aja gitu lihat para pelari lain dengan berbagai gaya dan seragam masing-masing. Ada segerombolan mas-mas muda dengan seragam running club kantor mereka, serius dan kompak banget warming up. Dengan bentuk badan ideal, dandanan necis dan semangat membara yang terlukis di wajah mereka.... menurut saya mereka pasti jago-jago semua deh. Ada juga sepasang suami-istri middle aged kompakan pake compression pants 2XU. Selain itu ada juga beberapa kelompok yang pake long sleeves shirt The Urban Mama.




Kok saya inget mereka ampe sekarang hanya karena kaos mereka? Karena setelah melalui beberapa kilometer, bersama mereka lah saya berlari. Beberapa anggota klub-nya the urban mas-mas itu ternyata sama keteterannya dengan saya, hehe. Despite their fitter-looked bodies, mereka sama-sama nyuri napas juga sambil jalan kaki sebentaran. Saya lari bareng dengan mama-mama keren TUM walopun akhirnya mereka finish duluan. Oia, dobel jempol deh buat pasangan 2XU itu, mereka terus berlari bersama dengan kecepatan konstan dan finish sama-sama beberapa puluh meter di depan saya. Ohh so sweeet... (later on my week end run @ CFD, I met them ran together, too).





Run for A Reason : Late celebration of 10 years with my 2003 Ex PCPM fellow

Jalur larinya sih standar BSD ya, kayanya mirip sama AKOTR. Untung nanjaknya cuma di sekitar KM1 doang. Hasilnya lumayan lah. Satu jam 27 menitan.  Pas sampe finish saya ketemu dengan Bu Yuli, a dedicated stylish runner di klub kantor. Meski usia beliau udah lebih dari setengah abad, tapi jangan salah lho... beliau teteup kenceng larinya, dan exist necis dari sisi penampilan. Lihat aja signature style-nya berupa kaca mata item, topi, dan lipstick merah anti luntur. Beliau fans beratnya Mas Agus Yudhoyono lho, jadi setiap ada race yang diadakan/diikuti Mas Agus Y. tsb meski sampe Karawang, beliau pasti ikutan....dan foto bareng, pastinya!




With Bu Yuli, the legend from our club

Nahhh ini dia si Babeh Aris... Meski "nemenin" saya lari dengan bib ungu dan sempet telat naik bis, dia happy dan finish dengan hati riang. Jadi reason lain dari berlari adalah having fun together with him. Berbekal pengalaman pertama ini, insya Allah tahun 2014 kami akan kembali. Bukan nggak mungkin, ntar muncul ide berani ikutan StanChar Half Marathon. Di Jakarta, atau Hongkong, atau Singapura?





Babe Aris nemenin lari, tampaknya dia menikmati juga

2013 Running Recap Part 2: Samsung S4 Run Series #3

Well, I’m gonna make the detail of my last 5K race in 2013 very quick. The information about the run race series held by Samsung in 2013 presented by www.marilari.com is here. Thanks to our club's PR, we were covered in TribunNews.

Ms. Yuli's standard pose after running

The registration fee was well-accepted by price-sensitive participants like me. There was 10% discount for registering in all 3 series. Rp100.00/race for 5K and Rp150.000/race for 10K. I only registered for #1 and #3. The registration and confirmation process as well as race pack collection (at Club Rasuna) were hassle-free. The rundown was straight forward and on-time. There were also abundance water, isotonic drink and bananas. The #1 (fX, CFD Sudirman) and #3's (Soemantri Brodjonegoro Stadium, Kuningan) route were familiar. The finisher medals were unique; we could make a complete round by putting those 3 pieces of medals together. With the exception of unsterilized road in front of Pasar Festival Kuningan and the doubtful length of #3 route, I would say the races were satisfying.

Here’s my 3 personal highlights on Samsung S4 Series #3 on November 3rd, 2013 at Rasuna Epicentrum.

First, before the race I witnesses a bunch of female urban runners –which means a group of good looking well-make-up young ladies with their bright singlets and very short pants– doing their warming up.....with one of their hands holding cigarettes and smoking between repetitions. How awesome. I did the same. I mean, many times I felt I had a legitimate reason to have high calories, low nutrition meals just because I run. I often did nothing than being a useless potato couch the rest of Sundays after I had 10K. I thought running (with its complexity and pain) would magically set off all of my sins. Not right. 

Next, I wanna make running a part of my life that will last for a very long time. So I think my standard approach for almost everything would work best with running, too. No rush, no overdo, no extreme encounter. Even though people may get benefit when they increase their training aggressively, I believe small steps are good for me as long as I keep myself moving forward. When it’s part of your daily life –like taking Commuter Line to go to work, having lunch, or brushing your teeth— you can’t complain too much when something went wrong because these things happened so fast and another day would come before you realize it. 

You couldn’t cling too hard on those problem. Most probably you would take the late next train or another mode of transportation. You would go grumpy about the dishes but the best you could do was making a promise to never come back to that restaurant again. Sometimes you had to brush the teeth without the toothpaste because you had no one to blame when you were run of it. The same should be applied to running. If something was down with me, I would bare in mind that there is always another run next time. It was not the end of the world. I’ll run better tomorrow. No rush, no rash.

Lastly, I decided to do the race without thinking too much. No one told me to do running. It’s not something that I was gonna be judged by or paid for. I simply do it because I want it and I can do it in my own way. I’m already slow anyway. So it’s important to enjoy the course and feel the positive ambience at the finish line. It’s important to maintain the pace (even if it’s not even sub 8 minutes kilometer) with good breathing and thinking. With this attitude, I booked 41s minutes that time. I smiled so wide from ear to ear. 

But wait... when I looked at my Nike+, it showed that we ran only about 4.4km. Oh nooo....!!!! Such a joy ruiner! I don’t know if anyone had the same experience with their gadgets. Did we really run 5K? But again, it was no big deal. Really. 

We could always run again tomorrow, right?

With Dike, my soulmate from the office

Guess which one is the real runner?

2013 Running Recap Part 1: Jakarta Festival City Marathon 2013

JAKARTA MARATHON, 27 OKTOBER 2013 @ Lapangan MONAS

Mandiri Run Oktober 2013 adalah posting terakhir saya ttg lari. Setelah itu masih ada beberapa event di 2013 yang belum sempat saya tulis. Supaya story-nya tidak hilang begitu aja, akhirnya saya sempatkan recap sekarang. Lebih baik terlambat daripada tidak sama sekali. Benang merahnya masih sama: struggling till the end, feeling down, but somehow we just let it go then ran all over again. Tapi lumayan lah, bisa mejeng di gambar headline Kompas. Untung pake kaos BI Runners yang ijo genjreng jadi gampang ngenalinnya. Thanks juga to Teteh Eneng's blog yang nampilin foto headline tersebut. Saya ada di mana yaaa???

Sumber : blog seru The Hilmi's

Cerita sendu tentang pendaftaran, rusuh pengambilan race pack, berbagai review buruk ttg pelaksanaan (tidak tersedianya makanan/minuman untuk pelari dan sterilisasi jalur yang kurang disosialisasikan) sampai pengumuman hasil race Jakarta Marathon 2013 yang kacau sudah banyak dibahas di blog atau forum lain. Salah satu review Jakmar 2013 dan saran untuk Jakmar 2014 ada di sini. Hiks. Prihatin dan sedih juga sih, diantara semua hal-hal payah di negeri ini....kok ya Jakmar 2013 –yang notabene event pertama di Indonesia sejak tahun 1980an– juga ikutan payah.  

Berhubung kami sekeluarga hanya ikut 5K, mungkin imbasnya nggak begitu kerasa. Saya daftar di periode early bird  (biar murah, hehe) jadi email konfirmasi sudah saya terima jauh hari. Saya ambil race pack hari Sabtu pagi karena Jumat malamnya masih ada kerjaan di Makassar dan lupa nitip sama teman kantor di Jakarta. Mengantisipasi berita kekacauan pengambilan race pack Jumat malam, saya ajak Bang Korak, ojek terpercaya untuk ikut antriin karena race pack Maratoonz untuk Miss K memang beda meja antrian. 

Saya udah siap-siap bawa makanan/minuman, alas koran, buku bacaan, dan payung kalau-kalau antri seperti malam sebelumnya. Namun pengambilan race pack di Sabtu pagi itu lumayan lancar dan saya hanya mengantri sekitar 20 menit saja. Sisi negatifnya, bisa dipastikan nama pada bib bukan nama kita. Peserta 5K dan Maratoonz  juga nggak dapet timing chip. Hehehe...percuma juga sih punya timing chip karena kabarnya nama dan record pelari pada ketuker-tuker. Udah capek-capek lari 21 km atau 42 km lebih ehh time record-nya salah... whoaaa, nggak sopan banget kan?

Keesokan harinya saya, Babe, Miss K, Ihsan dan Dike berangkat dari rumah sekitar pukul 04.00. Kami parkir mobil dan sholat Subuh dahulu di Mesjid Baitul Ihsan, Bank Indonesia. Sebenernya udah janjian ketemuan sama temans BI Runners sebelum start untuk serah terima banner supaya yang finish duluan bisa foto-foto pake banner. Tapi karena rempong dengan rombongan masing-masing, akhirnya ngga sempat ketemu.

Suasana di Monas subuh itu sungguh luar biasa. Monas disinari lampu yang berganti warna setiap beberapa saat. Beberapa wajah yang familiar sekilas terlihat di sana-sini. Teman kantor, teman di POMG JISc (papa-nya Daffa), teman kampus (anak TI’92 yang hampir selalu ketemu pas running event Bank Mandiri) sampe beberapa artis ibukota. Semua kelihatan exciting, semangat, dan pengen tau rasanya berpartisipasi di acara ini.

The purple-lighted monument on the back

Setelah menyanyikan Lagu Indonesia Raya dan mendengar sambutan dari Bu Mari Elka Pangestu, jam 5.00 pelari FM (bib oranye) dan HM berangkat (bib hijau) diberangkatkan. Babe, Ihsan dan saya (bib merah) bersama pelari 10K (bib biru) mulai lari jam 5.15 WIB.  Kami bertiga janjian berlari dengan pace masing-masing, jadi setelah start biasanya kami terpisah dengan sendirinya. Saya titipkan Kay pada Mbak Yeni untuk menunggu di dekat tenda refreshment (meeting point paling gampang tuh, asal jangan ngalangin jalan pelari yang baru finish).

Di gerbang Monas, kami sudah disemangati oleh musik tanjidor dan rampak rebana. Di KM 1 sekitar Plaza Sinarmas, kita juga sudah mulai dihibur dengan ....  check sound panggung, hehe.. crew band-nya baru bangun ‘kali.  Di Bundaran HI para pelari kemudian disambut ondel-ondel Betawi dan barisan anak sekolahan bertepuk tangan. Seru bingit!!! Ketika peserta 10K meneruskan ke tanjakan Dukuh Atas menuju Jembatan Semanggi, peserta 5K mengambil jalur kiri turun memutar di Stasiun Dukuh Atas, Sudirman. Saya lupa lokasi water station karena saya sendiri nggak berhenti untuk minum (berhenti karena hal lain...hiks). Yang pasti peserta 5K nggak semenderita peserta HM apalagi FM dalam hal dukungan minuman/makanan. 

Setelah itu kami menuju kembali ke arah Monas. Sesuai janji panitia, panggung musik sudah diisi oleh band-band yang memeriahkan acara ini sepanjang Jalan MH Thamrin. Photo booth dari panitia tersedia di KM 4 di sisi kiri jalan. Beberapa pelari 5K dan 10K sempat berpose gaya sebelum melanjutkan ke garis finish yang sudah di depan mata. Saya sih udah ngga napsu :(.

Meski udah mulai lari-lari cantik (lambat) selama 1 tahun pada saat itu, tapi saya masih juga mengalami kesulitan ketika berlari bersama-sama ratusan orang lain. Nafas dan detak jantung saya menjadi tidak teratur, kaki terasa makin berat, dan pikiran (negatif) mulai melancong ke mana-mana. Saya mengungkit target waktu yang tidak pernah terpenuhi lalu mulai meragukan diri sendiri. Mungkin saya terpengaruh dengan suasana yang heboh dan ramai karena biasanya ketika saya lari sendiri, rasanya baik-baik aja. 

Walhasil di KM 2,5 setelah melewati Stasiun Dukuh Atas, Sudirman saya berjalan sebentar untuk membenahi nafas. I still thought that walking was a sin (and thinking that way is still making me feel guilty, too. See where this negative thought will bring me?). Hehehe.. ngga usah diragukan deh ttg catatan waktu. Pastinya ngga jauh dari biasa. 

Selesai 5K saya ketemu dengan beberapa anggota BI Runners lain dan berfoto ria sambil menunggu teman-teman yang ikut 10K, HM, dan FM. Setelah ketemu Miss K, minum air, dan makan pisang... apalagi ditambah foto-foto, ilang deh rasa kecewa bahwa tadi sempat mencuri waktu untuk jalan kaki. Huahaha...cepet bener berubahnya.  

Three must-getir in running

How amazing the power of narcism, social acceptance, world acknowledgement for such a next to no-accomplishment thing in repairing my broken self-esteem :p Sebaiknya memang begitu kali rumusnya ya... Just run, forget it, then run again, again, and again. Never let anything stops you. Babe, Ihsan, dan Dike seemed happy with their own time and experience. Sayangnya, Babe ama Ihsan males difoto hehehe... Temans BI Runners meneruskan perjuangan mencari spot foto yang lebih mantap. Oh iya, untuk cerita 5K dari sisi lain... ini postingan Jeng Asti Amalya, monggo dibaca-baca.

The running girls: Witri, Fanny, Asti Amalya, aku dan Dike

Kemudian kami sekeluarga kumpul di Plaza Tenggara untuk nemenin Miss K ikutan Maratoonz bersama anak-anak usia 4-12 tahun. Jarak lomba adalah 1300 meter dan sebagian besar dilakukan di permukaan lapangan Monas yang berbatu. Anak-anak dibagi dalam kelompok A, B, dan C sesuai dengan usianya. Miss K masuk kelompok A untuk usia 9-12 tahun. Kelompok B adalah anak usia 6-9 tahun. Untuk anak di bawah 6 tahun, boleh berlari bersama orang tuanya. Sebagian anak-anak didampingi ortu yang juga peserta Jakmar 2013 (namanya usaha, biar anaknya ketularan lari juga). Ketika lomba akan dimulai sekitar jam 09.00, terjadi kehebohan ketika diumumkan bahwa Gubernur DKI Joko Widodo sedang berjalan menuju TKP. Sama seperti anak-anak lain, Miss K semangat banget karena akan bertemu langsung dengan Pak Jokowi. Soal lari mah, itu urusan belakangan...hehehe. 

Miss K masih seger dan semangat nungguin Maratoonz 2013

Sebelum start, anak-anak diperkenalkan kepada kakak-kakak pacers berbaju merah, yaitu para sukarelawan yang akan memimpin barisan lari. Tapi yang terjadi malah banyak anak-anak yang melesat mendahului kakak pacers :). Hadiah diberikan kepada 6 orang pemenang di masing-masing kelompok. Waaahhh, mereka lucu-lucu dan larinya cepet banget deh. Setelah finish, anak-anak dan ortu diajak Zumba Dance bersama Kak Alex yang juga mengisi acara di Kids Run 2013 di bulan September 2013.

Secara umum pelaksanaan kategori Maratoonz cukup lumayan. Hanya saja menurut kami sebagai ortu, waktu pelaksanaan Maratoonz terlalu siang. Anak-anak sudah banyak yang be-te dan kepanasan. Dugaannya memang karena panitia menunggu Jokowi untuk memulai Maratoonz. Mudah-mudahan pelaksanaan Maratoonz berikutnya bisa lebih baik lagi deh.

Harapan yang sama untuk pelaksanaan Jakarta Marathon yang akan datang. Seluruh masyarakat (baik pelari, penonton, dan pengguna jalan) benar-benar menunggu perbaikan nyata dari pihak EO dalam Jakarta Marathon 2014 yang akan dilaksanakan pada tanggal 26 Oktober 2014 nanti.

New Things About Her

She has clear opinion
Miss K has a very strong opinion about the UN (Ujian Nasional), a final exam which make 60% of the total score to pass the Primary School level. She said too many things might happen in 2 days of the UN so that the exam result may hinder the true potential of the students. The scores may not show how much a students have learned and understood: one student can be too nervous so he can’t do the test well. Another student may be sick so she fails to reach certain marks. Or out of no where, a poor student could get higher score by luck.


The UN has also caused pressure over students from Year 6. She often overhears her 6th grader fellows complaining about the exam preps that demand so much of their time and energy.


One better way, Miss K was sure, is to look at the historical results of students in the last 2 years, starting from Grade 4, in 2nd semester. No UN, no depressing final test. When I ask “Would it make the sufferance of being 6th grader stay even longer by stretching it out earlier into 4th grade time?”. She claimed, “No, we just divide it up, so the same amount of total stress are handled in parts. That should make us less nervous, because we gradually succeed or gradually fail. No shocks”. Good point.

She found new opportunity (or not?)

Miss K was off her swimming training a lot this year. She came back later in November 2013 only to find she was waaaaay behind her peers in 25m and 50m, both in breast strokes and free strokes. We talk about local neighborhood club here –doing 2 sessions per week–  not the big national club with curriculum and medals target. So, basically it’s not about her winning or losing, but about swimming better.


One bright dim: eventhough she was still working on individual speed, her girl team made the silver medal on one of local race and she was proud that she –being the second swimmer– had ‘completed’ the team. “We couldn’t even be in the race with only 3 swimmers, Mom”. Another good point.


Based on her coach’s evaluation, she was lack in response on short distance challanges. The upside, though, her performance was a little better than girls in her team for middle and long distance (meaning going 20 to 30 laps of 40m pool). So adding the middle and long distance training would benefit her in stimulating the speed and hopefully in exploring a new opportunity for her to actually do middle distance (100m to 400m).


Her response? “Whooaaattttt? So I have to do more than others? I can say ‘No’, right, Mom?”  And I said, “Sure, honey...it’s up to you. And you can say it later, too, if you want. After you feel that it’s not worth the effort, maybe?”  

She is getting bigger

Miss K gained weight by 15% during 2013. She became taller, too. She practically ate everything available when the hunger attacked. Her 3th grade class teacher told me to provide more healthy food for both at school and at home since she witnessed Miss K’s upsurging appetite during the last months of Grade 3.  She is growing really fast! She will be a pre-teen very soon. It means extra expenditures for clothes and shoes and bras..... so early this year. And if you think shopping on mini sets  and shoes is easy, try it with a pre-teen girl who only knows what she doesn’t like!

Her emoticons became real

Last year I saw a big change in Miss K’s emotion, well... I hope in good ways. She began sharing her feelings in a bit more specific fashion. She was more and more able to explain if she was tired, get bored, sad, happy, loved, felt rejected/accepted, even predicted how other kids/people might feel and think. Well uhm... sometimes she was not very clear in explaining... sometimes her flood of tears or her burst of laughters told me more.

It was still vivid to me, one night she sobbed terribly after her stage performance at Goethe Institut in July. The group she performed with was packed with teenagers, so she seemed to be one of few younger members. At first, I thought that wouldn’t be a problem as long as she could sing and dance along following the scenario of the musical. Singing and dancing thing was not the matter. After the show, some kids congratulated each other, then screamed and jumped in pride and joy for the the success of the show. They took their tongue-out pictures. They even made plan to spend the rest of the night hanging out in a big mall. She was not invited. She was left.

Tears silently went down her chubby cheeks as she watched those kids gathered (she didn’t look at other directions where some other kids were celebrating it with their families). She was hurt, thought that she didn’t belong to the group even after 2 weeks together on the musical camp. When I listened to her describing the situation,  I couldn’t help admitting to myself that once in a while the world can be a harsh,  unfair place, with few unfair people.

I couldn’t find the right words to console her as I held her tight, rubbing her back and  whispering that she actually had some best friends who love and care for her. Those kind of friends might not share the same interests (i.e. the musical) but they were the ones who really made her days fun. What I learned about friendship so far is that it can’t be forced. Once acquired, it even take a lot to work it out. I hoped she could understand.


Another important point: just don’t mix pre-teens with the real teens. The first bunch might not ready yet to adapt to the second, a more independent (a.k.a. insensitive) pack.

(hopefully) She becomes an active happy reader

As a little girl, books introduced me to the outside world. Rarely going out on tour or family holiday, books were my key to the window of bigger, brighter life. I wanted to share the same joy with Miss K. I provided her a  lot of books since she was able to grasp things with her tiny fingers. And by a lot, I mean A LOT. She started reading when she was 4, I was so thrilled that the earlier a child could read, the bigger chance she would be a passionate reader. That was not the case with THIS KID.

She loved to read books, only sporadically. She hopped from one book to another; most of the time she didn’t finish the books. Only one specific book that she really loved: 'Mencari Tujuh Saudara', one of Time Life for Children collection.

Time went by and she still had her own style in reading. I encouraged her to jot down the points of the story, to write her own synopsis, to have a ‘show and tell’ chats with me, her dad, or her friends every time she read an interesting book. She only half-heartedly followed the ideas. But every person has her/his own time for every thing. This ‘BANG’ moment for her was when she –out of the blue– laid her eyes on “5 cm” novel. “It was a gift from a friend,” I said to her. “So it must be good. Can I read it?” she asked while curiously looking at the novel’s back paper review. I replied, “Sure, K.”


Then she went on reading the book from that moment until the next three days. Until she finally finished with a big smile on her face. “How was it?” I asked. “It was coooool, Mom. I don’t really understand all parts because there are a lot of dialogues, but I enjoyed reading it”. Then she told me the detail of the story. The downside: she asked me about G-string (duhh?). The good side: she even recognized the big idea: “The story tells us about friendship and about to never give up, since our dreams are so close. It is only 5 cm in front of our eyes”.


It was a BANG news for me. I am so glad she started reading intensely, not as a chore, but for her own pleasure.


And to my surprise, one good book led a way to another great book. When she was reading a children book ‘Ten’, she asked me if 'To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a good book since the character in ‘Ten’ read it. I went bananas for a second. In my mental picture I was down on my knee and pled: Please God, tell me this is the sign of promising future of her being a life time happy reader.  Not wanting to press her under my glee, I calmly responded : “It is a great book. You can it find yourself someday when you ready to read it”.


Everyday, I have new surprises, new stories, new enchanment of being with her while she is growing. Very fast. TOO FAST.