Dieng Trail Run 2023 Indonesia

As Gede Pangrango race was postponed without a proper update, I started to search around for some Indonesia races to fill up the gap as the air ticket cannot wait.  Chanced upon this race at the Asian Trail Master site, and it was one of their championship race.  There was also a quiz going then on the Facebook page for free entry slot.

I decided to give the quiz a try and if not, I will just sign up for it.  The cost is reasonable, paid about 90 plus Sing dollars for the entry, this included one nice plush hoodie, starting tee shirt.  There are also support all the way for the 50Km.  50Km is the longest distance in this race with an elevation of 3k plus.  The organisers were active on IG but not really have a FB page.  Maybe Indonesians uses IG more.

I paid another 90 plus SGD for the accomodation and transport.  One day before the race, I took their minivan from Jakarta to race venue, had a 2 nights stay at the homestays near to the startline and took a van back second day after race day from Dieng to Yogja.  I felt the price is pretty decent as I would not be staying in the homestay quite often so I felt any accommodation will be good, but hot water bath is really essential as the place is seriously cold for my standards.

We reached Dieng at 5 am from Jakarta with one pit stop on the high way, it was about 8 hrs ride.  I was put to homstay Hosentia, the Ibu was very nice and cute, however, I forgot to take a picture with her.  There were 2 adjourning living spaces with 2 bed rooms.  When I reach, there were no one around so I was in a real big space.  But after I came back from the race pack collection,  I was told to shift to only one side and occupy one room.  The hot water service is not very reliable, toilets are really basic, no towels and amenities, you have to prepare it all, good thing is there is Alfa mart nearby for you to get some necessities.

The race start is in a mountain resort called Taman Syliandra, to speak the truth it is not fantastic but better than the homestays.  This is also the place where we collect the bib and race pack.  There were really quite a lot of things inside the race pack which is good for the homestay like liquid bath soap, face wash.  The mandatory gear check was also done here.  We also need to pay 200,000RP for a simple mandatory medical check up, I guess this is the norm after covid 19.   There was also a simple race brief done at 4PM on the eve of the race, just for some technical updates.

https://www.diengtrailrun.id/the-race

https://www.instagram.com/diengtrailrun/

Wonosobo, Dieng

Location of the race is on a plateau, central Java.  After checking on the website, I realise that it is near to Borobudur, the Unesco site.  Nearest Airport is actually Yogjakarta, but because I had to fly in from Jakarta for my ticket, I chose the Jarkarta bus service.  But for the return I bought an extra ticket from Yogja to Jakarta.  I was quite excited about visiting Dieng as it is famous for its cold weather, beautiful mountains and temple complex dated way back to 9th century.  Standing high 2,100m above sea level, it is no wonder that this place has got cool temperature all year round with an average of 14 degree celcius.  Not your usual SouthEast Asian type of weather.

There are also many nature attractions like craters and waterfalls.  Since I was already going to climb the mountains for the race, I went for the Sikidang Crater as one sightseeing portion.  It is an active crater with very hot spring and smoke coming out from the ground.  Indeed very Instagrammy for those who loves to take picture.

Route

The route got changed to a lesser elevation version.  I only got to know about it quite late, usually Indonesian races can get a bit messy and administratively not so well run.  Experienced it in the previous few boutique races.  This can be even so for basics like the route is not planned out properly.  But I must say Dieng Trail pretty good already in the administration especially for getting the runners to Dieng from Yogja and Jakarta.  The accommodation arrangements were also very fast and good.  At least , I didnt end up no place to stay like the Mt Bromo case.  They also set up the Whatsapp chat group for both teams before the race so that we know exactly where to pick up the runners.  I felt the whole transport team was well ran and we were safely transported to the race and back to the places we came from.

Met a Filipino lady called Cyn on the bus ride, and I realise that the whole bus was full of elite ladies who were there to clock points for the Asian Trail Master Championships.  Cyn later introduced me to Jennifer who is a teacher in Bali, she is also a Filipino, and doing the 50Km with me.  We were running most of the parts together till day break where we were going up the hill after Mt Bismo.  I had to break from her because I was really worried about the cut off time.

The race route was really not that bad and technical like the Gede Pangrango.  This is good news for me, because after Gede, my legs were really gone and half the time I was just jamming to prevent myself from slipping downhill.  At least there were roads to run for this one and the elevation was manageable.  Most importantly is it is really scenic.  We went up total of 3 peaks, Mt Bismo, Mt Prau and Mt PakuWaja.  There was supposed to be a fantastic sun rise catching at Mt Prau.  I was late it was about 10 am when I reach there and it was very hot.  Furthermore the clouds covered up parts of the mountain scene.

I would say that the trails are runnable and less technical, there were also quite a fair amount of road for runners to take a break from.  The 50Km starts at 12am , which means that its dark, the organiser made it so that the beginning part is mostly roads so making it a great relief for noobs like me. This saved time to have to navigate through the trails.  Signages were also pretty clear and understandable, only 2 times I got lost at a Y or cross junction.  During the night time, there were also real marshallers stations in the villages where the road can get a little confusing.

Water Points

The water points are well planned out, most of them are at the top of the mountains.  As for real food, there are bananas, fruits and also Pop Mie.  One of the stations had hard boiled eggs, which was good as I always liked a salty replenishment.  I was not able to eat one cup this time, firstly, I thought of rushing for time, secondly somehow I was unable to swallow much from all the heavy breathing climbing up.  I must say Indonesian mountains are seriously uncomparable, the view and scenery are just too nice and also the challenge in elevation is much more real, it is just that its rest and relax and logistics are not as good as other countries, especially when you don’t speak Bahasa.

Volunteers and staff are also very friendly and helpful.  Each water station is about 10-12 Km apart.  They are all well stocked and also had this special coconut Isotonic drink, Iso Plus coconut, which was really good and replenish well.

Ending it all

At the last check point, I looked at my watch and thought that I had another 9km to close , I had about six hours left to the cut off timing.  I wanted to give this check point a miss, then I saw on the banner saying the finish line is only 6km away.  I asked the staff at the check point and realised that there was indeed a change in route! Gosh! I think this is good news rather than the route being changed to a more difficult one.  The kind staff helped me with a bit of a leg massage before I jam off to the last stretch.  Maybe I wanted to finish it fast, I used all my might for the last stretch, it was also good to know that there was a big chunk of tarmac road for the ending.  The last 1 km plus was on the road to Taman Syliandra, I was able to really run for the last part and sprinted all the way.   Final timing was 14hours 32 min, I could not ask for more as I was really worried that I might DNF with the three peaks.

Ending point was nice, with many photo chances too, also transitional lunch pack with physio service too.  I was handed the crazy big and heavy medal which I am using as a paper weight now.  I was quite dead, and saw Cyn, a Filipino lady doing the 25k.  She cheered for me while we waited for Jen, the lady who did the 50Km with me.  Jen finally came in around 15hours plus.  What a relief to know that all the 50K ladies did not DNF!

Overall

As usual, the summary, to speak the truth, this trail is really not that tough and not very technical.  Its technical parts were well planned out and only in the day which is much relieve for new joiners.  I must say the initial route might be a bit challenging to complete.  But the revised one is so much more achievable.  I must say the admin and technical staff are the more responsive and well organised ones in Indonesia compared to the others which I joined.  Really would love to do more Indonesia races, but it also really depends on the transportation improvements and logistics ( especially accommodations).  Till the next race!  Which is just one week away!