BY From a humble participation of just over 1000 runners in its first year in 2018, Bintan Marathon grew to more than 2000 runners in its second edition last year, and secured Mandiri Bank as its title sponsor. With this solid backing, co-organisers Bintan Resort, Medianusa Permana and Orange Room are now setting their target higher with 5000 runners.
In this third edition of the Mandiri Bintan Marathon scheduled from 4 to 5 July 2020, there will be five categories: full marathon, half marathon, 10km, 3km fun run and 1.2km for kids. The event concept is to get serious runners to come and run competitively in Bintan, and offer fun run options for their spouses and partners who may not be into running to now start to run. Also, the organisers want the kids to start running from young.
Mandiri Bintan Marathon will start and end at the scenic Lagoi Bay. It offers a pollution-free run course that goes through picturesque waterfronts, pristine beaches and natures reserves, unlike runs that take place in urban Jakarta or Singapore. Each distance category will be of a single loop course to guarantee unique views en route. Additionally, the organisers have taken feedback from previous editions as improvement points including starting the races earlier in the day to beat the island heat and to offer Indonesian nationals a separate locals-only category.
This third edition’s running tee depicts the identity of the beautiful island of Bintan in Riau, characterised by the swaying coconut trees and the classic blue color is inspired by the colour of the sea and its beautiful beaches. The motif on the medal is the Lancang Kuning boat, a Malay traditional boat. The word lancang is derived from the word kencang which means fast and kuning is the yellow colour. Lancang Kuning boats were used by Malay kings as their war vessels to symbolise greatness, glory, power, and heroism.
At the launch event on 10 March, sports personalities and running communities were present. Jauhari Johan, the SEA Games 2019 gold medallist for individual duathlon category, and husband-and-wife team of Arthur Tong and Elaine Young from Elevated Performance Coaching gave advice on the routes and race strategies. Arthur is a Singapore-based coach with over a decade of experience training soldiers in the Singapore Armed Forces as well as triathletes from the Singapore triathlon community. Elaine consistently finishes on the podium at IRONMAN 70.3 races, and will be heading to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand later this year.
The organisers are mindful of the current COVID-19 situation and are monitoring it very closely. Precautions at Bintan Resorts have already been in place since the start of the virus, including temperature screening and making hand sanitisers readily available. As reference, the Tour of Bintan, a cycling event scheduled from 27 to 29 March will proceed as planned.
Route tips from Arthur Tong, Elaine Young and Jauhari Johan
However, the organisers and the Bintan tourism body are convinced that for the long term, sports will play an integral role in driving tourism to the island. Expect Mandiri Bintan Marathon to grow even bigger in the coming years.
For registration information, please visit www.bintanmarathon.com.
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