East Coast 2023, Running 108 Km For The Main Mission Of Fulfilling Clean Water And Preventing Stunting

The atmosphere of the 2023 East Coast press conference in Jakarta. (Photo: Doc. Plan Indonesia)

JAKARTA - As many as 80 runners will travel 108 kilometers in the ultra marathon event titled Jelajah Timur Run for Equality 2023. This running and donating event will take a route in the SoE area, South Central Timor Regency, NTT on 27-28 October 2023.

The event, which was initiated by the Plan Indonesia Foundation, carried out the main mission of fulfilling clean water and preventing stunting, especially in the NTT region.

"East Pelajah Run for Equality 2023 does not only focus on ultra marathon running activities but also invites the wider community to support and participate in fulfilling access to clean water in the NTT region. Due to the scarcity of clean water facilities in an area, it will have a direct impact on the stunting level experienced by children in the region, in this case in NTT," added Resource Mobilization Director of Plan Indonesia, Linda Sukandar.

"This year we chose to finish in Kupang, the capital city of NTT, so that our voices were also heard by the local government so that our efforts could also get support from all parties, including the government. Hopefully this can open the eyes of the NTT government to be able to support this activity," he continued.

Based on research by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, it was stated that stunting caused by the absence of clean water and poor sanitation reached 60 percent, while the remaining 40 percent was caused by malnutrition.

The 2023 East Coast is the fifth event. In the previous four editions, the organizers managed to raise funds of up to Rp6.1 billion to build clean water infrastructure in 12 NTT villages and have benefited more than 13 thousand people.

"For this year, we are targeting donations of up to Rp1 billion which will be used to help clean water facilities in three villages in NTT," said Linda.

If in the previous year there were 66 participants who participated, this time there would be a slight increase. There will be 80 runners, both from within and outside the country, who will participate.

They will travel 108 kilometers for 20 hours non-stop. The runners will start their struggle from So'e, South Central Timor Regency, and end up in Kupang.

"Starting from the South Central Timor Regent's office to the NTT Governor's Office in Kupang. Actually there are three route options. However, we finally chose this route for the convenience of the participants," said Race Director of East Pelajah, Dian.

He revealed, there are several runners from other countries who will participate. However, none of them are professional runners.

Later the runners who will register must go through the selection process first. The reason is, there is only a quota of 80 runners who will participate in this event.

Linda explained that this restriction was because the infrastructure at the location of the activity could not facilitate many participants. "For the sake of comfort, we limit it by going through the selection process. Indeed, those who participate are serious to help fundraising," he said.

"There are several categories in the selection. Apart from track records, we will also see their commitment in fund processing," he continued.