Living in Singapore has a low down for trail and mountain runners: lack of practice playground. The highest mountain we have here is the Bukit Timah hill, to me it is not even considered a hill. But to speak the truth the elevation is nothing compared to overseas. The Southern Ridges is also a good choice for training, but as usual the elevation and temperature cannot be compared to overseas. The mountains and forest overseas also see more unpredictable weather as compared to the local “hills” , this can also affect your performance. The main thing about participating in overseas trail race is to take note of the following, IF you do not want to “Did Not Finish”:
- Pick a realistic race: Do not go for Everest or some really challenging mountains if you have never or only done once or twice trail mountain races.
- What is the race crowd like: Some races are catered for the professional Sky Runners. Of course you can join in these race but be really prepared to DNF, as the cut off timing might NOT be so luxurious. Another point to note is safety, the weather up in the mountain is very volatile. If you are not trained to handle it, some of the more challenging and remote areas can be really dangerous if you stay up there for too long and if you are unable to get down yourself, that will be even worse. Some of the races do not cater for heli evact or even normal evact, so when the assistance come, it will be quite late. Know what you are capable of so that you will not be disappointed.
- Recce the area if you can: Do arrive 2 days early just to get climatised to the surrounding. If possible do go one round just to familiarise with the surrounding. There are no GPS signals in some of these areas.
MT BROMO
Scenery of Mt Bromo
MT Bromo or Gunung Bromo is an active volcano and part of the Tengger Massif in East Java, Indonesia. At 2,329 m, it is not the highest peak of the massif but it is most well known because of it s scenery. The massif aread is the most visited tourist attraction in East Java, Indonesia. The volcano is part of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. MT BROMO meaans Brahma, the Hindu creator God.
The nearest airport is the Juanda Airport in Surabaya. It still however takes about 3-4 hour car ride, this will depend on the road conditions too as sometimes it is jammed.
Accommodation
At one homestay
There are no big established hotels or inns around Mt Bromo. Most of the accommodation choice available are home stays and also further down into Pasaruan, there are more choices of luxurious hotels. Most of these home stays you will need to tie down with the locals and get a rate from them. Some of these home stays operate tour trips to visit the Mt Bromo and also provide meals for the visitors.
The Mt Bromo Marathon
The ending point with a stage
At the start line with many villagers
On the road
This trail marathon consist of road running and also trail running two rounds around the Tengger Mountains, you get to see MT Bromo from the race and at the same time experience the different villages around the region itself. The Full marathon details can be found here.
Combining both Trail and Road segments, the race ranges from 1400m to 2400m. It is not that easy if you have not been running for sometime. Despite that being so, the cut off timing is luxurious, and it is not as “dangerous” as some races, where there are absolutely no inhabitants through the race. Local still use this track for their daily commuting, so it is still quite safe even at night as you will pass through some villages. I managed to finish the race around 6:30hrs. We started in the morning and ended about 2pm in the noon. The weather was still cooling and rather cold but there were some drizzles along the way. The bad thing is that the dirt tracks are really dusty, so you would need to bring some sort of the mask or something to cover at times as it will affect your breathing.
This race is really tiring but if you have been doing trails and mountains all these while, the maybe it is not as tedious. The rewards is the good scenery and also chance to get to mingle with the local as you will be staying with the locals.
Do give it a shot and you will find this quite an amazing race.
Finisher medal
