The Tahura Trail running is held at the Forest Park IR H Juanda in the Dago area in Bandung Indonesia. Talking about fresh air in Indonesia for a change, the city is 150km ( approx) from Jakarta. But it is not as crowded. However, on the weekends, many of the residents in Jakarta likes to go there for a short weekend, making the city very busy on weekends and public holidays.
The Race Collection
The race pack contents
The collection is actually at the park itself. It was not easy to find if you have never been to the park or not a local. For this year, the location was actually near the car park, you have to walk through a tunnel to reach the main place of collection. It helps if you are able to speak some Bahasa Indonesia as most of the locals have limited abilities with English.
Inside the National Park itself, there are not really tentages to cover up in the race pack collection area. But it has the natural foliage and also very cooling since there are many trees around. The toilet is not exactly very clean so be prepared.
Race starting point and also the collection point
Race packs comes with vouchers and discounts, a tee shirt, a small Ocean Pack Bag for you to keep all the items, one recycling cup and also the race bib . Be sure to wear the bib for the timing to be clocked.
There are some exhibitors selling sports wear and items and also nutrition items.
Race Route
Bandung City
To speak the truth, this trail is not really difficult or very technical, there are not many killer slopes to climb or go down. But there are some river crossings to tackle. The indicators a long the way are the yellow and black plastic strips and the organisers have indicated your direction very clearly. Therefore it is not that bad to complete it.
It starts at 6:15 am at the national park, which is also your race pack collection point. There is a baggage drop point for you to leave some clean clothes and slippers for the race end. Before the race, the National Anthem is sung.
Along the way, the rolling hills and plantations are quite a nice scene for the runners. Locals are generally very friendly but they do not exactly know how to react when you see them but they always put on this happy smile.
Before the dawn break
More beautiful scenery of the mountains of Bandung
Scenery along the trail
There are not many water points, which mean if you are one person who really needs a lot of hydration, you will need to carry more than 1.5l of water. As usual, the organisers will insist that you bring hydration of at least 1.5L, torch or headlight, emergency blanket and also a whistle. The trail is not that remote until no one passes it. Along the way, you get to see many locals going up and down the hills but on motorbikes.
At the waterpoints, there are Isotonic drinks, plain water. For fuel wise, banana and water melon. The volunteers are very friendly and helpful to the runners.
The water point after 30km
Generally this trail is very enjoyable and also really relaxing as one get to enjoy the natural scenery of Bandung and also the air is so much better than compared to Jakarta. There are not many foreigners participating in the race. The only bad thing was due to the rain, the terrain is very muddy and soggy. You can also take a wash at the river crossings so that your shoes will not be that overly muddy.
Race End
About 5 Km before you reach the end of the race, you will be led into the forest park again. This is where you have to be careful of the other park goers. The roads are narrow and some points it is broken, so you need to make your way around all these obstacles. Before the end you will get to see some of the highlights of the park which includes the Dutch cave and the Japan Caves. And just before the real ending, you will be treated with another slope up the hill.
Plantations are a common scene in Bandung Dago region
At the race end, there are watermelons, banana and also Fried Tofu for the runners. Unfortunately, I do not have the appetite for the Fried Tofu which I really wanted to try. The finisher’s medal will be presented to you. Most of the runners take the opportunity to gather around the court where the baggage collection is and catch up with one another. Many of the runners come from teams in Indonesia so they seem to know each other pretty well.
Refreshment table for the finishers
To get off the race venue, you can either ask the local motorbike riders to send you down ( about 50,000 rupiah) or get your taxi driver to get you back to the hotel. The transport can be taken from the carpark just outside the race ending point.
All in all, it is another nice and exciting trail race, although it was not as challenging as Bromo, the nice environment and rolling hills with greenery is the main take away from this race.