Bromo Marathon 2013 - Day 1

Mount Arjuna View from Ancala Inn, Tosari, Bromo. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

This was my second 10 km race outside Jakarta after Bali Marathon 2013. Yes.. This was Bromo. The most amazing scenery of volcano, especially for sun rise photo hunters. It is located in East Java province and around 100 km South East of Surabaya, the capital city of East Java. This was my second trip to Mount Bromo. The first trip I did when I was in university and I took Geology course. One of the class was geology field trip to Mount Bromo. It was in 2005, one day after the first Bali Bombing.

Friday, 30th September 2013 mid night I took bus from my hometown in Pati, Central Java to Surabaya, the capital city of East Java. I arrived in Surabaya bus station in the morning. Then I went to Juanda International airport. The committee provided shuttle bus from Surabaya airport to Wonokitri village in Pasuruan Regency. Runners had to book shuttle bus after they booked for the race, otherwise you have to arrange your transportation to Wonokitri by yourself. 

It was the first Bromo Marathon. The goal of the Bromo Marathon was for advancement of education in Indonesia's rural Tengger region. Basically, runners paid for charity for education sector in the local community near Mount Bromo. You can explore Bromo Marathon's vision and mission in their website www.bromomarathon.com. This year the will continue the race in September 2014, so don't miss it to join.

Map of East Java showing the distance between Surabaya and Wonokitri. Coutersy Google Map

The road trip from Surabaya to Wonokitri between two to three hours. The bus was OK, the air conditioner not too cold. There were several buses that served the participants. At that time the race was followed by more than 900 runners from 30 nationalities. Inside the bus, I met several people from other countries.

I did not make any reservation for accommodation. When I called the committee at that time, all guest houses that has collaboration with the race committee were fully booked.

After 3 hours driving, finally we arrived at Tosari village. It is around 2-3 km from Wonokitri Village. There were some guest house and small hotels still available. I decided to stay at Ancala Inn for 2 night. The rate was IDR 700,000 or around US$ 70 at that time. The rate is include breakfast. The typical Indonesia breakfast such as fried rice "Nasi Goreng" and fried noodle served with banana and hot tea. The hotel was relatively new. The bed is nice and in good condition. The room provided air conditioner, clean bath room with shower and hot water. There are several small restaurants "Warung" near the hotel that provide mostly Indonesian food, coffee, tea beer.

Tosari Village view. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

Ancala Inn Sign. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

Cozy and Clean Room at Ancala Inn. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

After took a bath, then I went to the Wonokitri by shuttle car that committee provided in Tosari village every 30 minutes. I took the race kit. It is very nice colour, green....!!! At the night, there were tourism attraction next to start/finished line performing East Java dances and continued by DJ performance. Also, some government official gave speech and welcoming the runners.

Stage for art performance and opening speech. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

 And this is it.. my running t-shirt and my number. What a nice number 3111 !!

Bromo Marathon 2013 t-shirt. Photo credit - Carl Fakaruddin 2013

Time to sleep and I was ready for the race.