the Free Spirit runners Jakarta
you know the feeling you have when you decide what you really need to do is lose those excess kilograms that were slowly added to your perimeter. You sit there, perhaps in traffic, perhaps a cafe or office, and you get that eureka moment. I will exercise
Of course, after a few moments of joy, kicking the reality of this is, after all, Jakarta and everyone knows -. All those who have an online presence, it seems - there is absolutely nothing to do in the capital of Indonesia. Yes, there is a scene of active soccer with a local league, but which often involves sweating gallons on the ground for putting it back on, plus a little more, in the nearest pub. Or there are the Hash House Harriers; the ubiquitous hash with double meanings, the public school sing-along and yes, even more beer.
It may seem as though you can find a healthy activity, expatriate lifestyle will almost always throw alcohol into the mix and the best intentions become subsumed by another kilogram or two on this tour bloated size. There is at least one alternative, an activity where the focus is actually on the activity itself and not the post-session activity imbibing.
The hash likes to boast, it is a club drinking with a malfunction and that seems a fair enough description. Jakarta Free Spirit, on the other hand, has no dual identity. The focus is on the run, the whole course and nothing but the race. In fact, while they are dedicated to the race on the last day of the election in Jakarta, where the streets were quiet and most local residents enjoyed a day off, they were at the crack of the meeting from dawn to a place of FBS for their own electoral race. The 10-15 km race has taken a number of polling stations and spent hotfooting / MPR DPR parliament building on Jalan Gatot Subroto.
The first departures are par for the course for lovers of Jakarta Free Spirit and it makes sense. The city is noticeably cooler in the early hours for a start. So cool in fact, join the club on one of their weekly shopping zoo is probably the best time to catch the animals, well before the crowds turn with their picnics. Every Saturday is the execution zoo day at 6:30, filling a soft 5K around the property, bumping the cleaning staff and say hello to the animals and birds as they face another day be entertaining someone else.
Jakarta Free Spirit was founded by Barbara Oravetz in 2001, and when you read on their website, they have a focus on social fitness, running and competitive training, you know these guys take what they do seriously. And why not? Staying in shape is to join the local gym and locking on the latest fitness trends, a walk around the zoo or the stimulation of a treadmill in an air conditioning system in the hope to impress people with your latest Nikes.
If the zoo dashboard is not hardcore enough for you, then why not join Sunday run? It starts at 6 FBS and can cover anywhere between 16 and 25 km. And, says the site, riders are advised to be able to maintain a rate of operation of 5.30 6 minutes a kilometer! Which, admittedly, is faster than a flooded Jalan Kemang Raya!
The lovely month of May sees JFS busier than usual with a couple of special events going on. 17 e May sees the last gathering in Lippo Karawaci Jakarta Highland, one of the largest expatriate events on the calendar, and of course an opportunity for JFSers to strut front burly, log -tossing, skirt-wearing men worldwide.
25 e of the month sees them join the Wine and Cheese Expo run. This event allows people dressed in fancy costumes and go 5 or 10 km runs, while for the young, it is a 1.2 km kids run. Part of the Festival of fashion and Food Jakarta, the race takes place at La Piazza Kelapa Gading in, North Jakarta, and organizers encourage runners to dress up in carnival costumes related countries worldwide. And what is the year of the World Cup in Brazil, it is not hard to imagine many people will look for Rio!
Jakarta Free Spirit is to have fun, meet people, and of course, running. So why not give it a go? Who knows, you might end up losing a few kilos and win some friends
contact details:
www.jakartafreespirit.org
www.wineandcheeseexpo.com