Magelang, Central Java (ANTARA) - Some 47 national elite runners recommended by the Indonesia Athletics Federation (PB PASI) have been selected and registered for the prestigious 2022 Borobudur Marathon (BorMar).
BorMar Committee Staff Lukminto Wibowo explained here on Sunday that the number of national runners was predicted to increase ahead of the BorMar race in Lumbini Park, Borobudur Temple area, on November 12-13, 2022.
The names of the elite runners, among others, are Betmen Manurung and Odekta Elvina Naibaho. Manurung is from Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra. He won the 2020 BorMar while Naibaho, from Dairi District, North Sumatra, was the women's champion of the 2021 BorMar.
Naibaho also won the gold medal for Indonesia at the Vietnam SEA Games in May 2022.
"We ensure that this year's Borobudur Marathon is still competitive because national elite runners such as Manurung and Naibaho will join," Wibowo said.
In organizing the BorMar 2022, the committee has presented some innovations so that this annual marathon would keep being attractive.
In addition to holding the campaign "Friendship Run" in four cities, Semarang, Jakarta, Medan, and Makassar, the committee has also prepared the young talent agenda to find and develop new and young potential marathon runners in the country.
"The (young talent) participants are under 20 years old for a 10-kilometer race. This is our commitment, that BorMar, besides for achievements, also aims to find new national athletes," he said.
Furthermore, Wibowo said BorMar and the young talent races will be held on November 12 and the next day, on November 13, a half marathon will be attended by five thousand participants.
The target number of participants was actually 10 thousand runners, but to prevent COVID-19 transmissions, the organizers used the ballot system, which is selecting participants randomly, capping the number to five thousand.
