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PB PASI hopes the 2022 Labuan Bajo Marathon will produce national runners. Photo: IST
This is because IFG is collaborating with the East Nusa Tenggara Youth and Sports Bureau (NTT) and NTT PASI to search for seed athletes by engaging 100 Senior Secondary Schools (SMA) across the NTT region. The program attracts 400 students who excel in athletics.
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Thereafter, they will follow two months of training, which is directly monitored by IAAF and PASI certified running coach, Agung Muliwan. Later on, 400 potential seeds will participate in the IFG Labuan Bajo Marathon 2022 5K class.
The General Secretary of PB PASI, Tigor Tanjung, said the NTT region is already famous for producing a large number of long-distance runners. One of them even became a legend, Eduardus Nobunome. The figure who died in 2020 was a six SEA Games gold medalist and national marathon record holder, 2 hours 19.18 minutes.
Tigor Tanjung hopes the young long-distance runner from Bumi Flobamora will be born with the Labuan Bajo Marathon. “I hope the 2022 IFG Labuan Bajo Marathon will contribute to the production of long-distance runners for Indonesia,” he said.
PB PASI also hopes that this tournament will be able to get the public excited about their long-distance running numbers, especially in NTT. “In the past, there were many reliable NTT runners. Now, however, it has gone down a bit. I hope the NTT (long-distance origin) athletes will appear again,” continued Tigor Tanjung.
IFG CEO Labuan Bajo Marathon Fitri Istanti said that the event was the first marathon event to be held in Labuan Bajo. This activity was carried out in support of the government’s policies which focused on promoting Labuan Bajo as one of the High Priority Destinations (DSP).
“What is unique and distinguishes the Labujan Bajo Marathon from other marathons is the perimeter of the track that goes up and down. It will be very challenging. Therefore, we call it the most challenging marathon route with stunning views. Our target is people who want to try new challenges.”
Vitri added that approximately 1,500 local, national and international runners will participate in the 2022 IFG Labuan Bajo Marathon. Later, there will be several track categories ranging from 5K, 10K, 21K (half marathon) and 42K (full marathon). In addition to the individual category, the 2022 Labuan Bajo Marathon also competes in the Ekiden or 5K group relay class and a special competition for the 100m Kids Dash.
Ekiden is a four-person relay running activity (two boys and two girls with each participant running 5 km for a total distance of 20 km.
(Stu)