Proving Oneself in Lintas Sumbawa

Kompas/Rony Ariyanto Nugroho

Eni Rosita

The journey of Eni Rosita, 38, to win the 320-kilometer Lintas Sumbawa 2017 cross-country run was thrilling. She did not only have to fight the long and tiring terrain and the malignant weather of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara. She was also burdened by burns on her legs that had not fully healed. However, with a sense of patience and self-awareness, Eni proved herself. She was the first woman to win the longest running race in Southeast Asia.

On Saturday evening, Oct. 8, 2016, when she was participating in the Mesastila Peaks Challenge running race in Boyolali, Central Java, Eni experienced a horrendous calamity that shocked running race fans in the country. The Mesastila Peaks Challenge is a race with tracks over five mountains in Central Java, namely Merapi, Merbabu, Andong, Telomoyo and Gilipetung.

That evening, while descending from Mount Merapi and wanting to run toward Mount Merbabu, Eni was suddenly doused with a fluid from behind by an unidentified motorcyclist whose motive has not yet been uncovered. The fluid, which was believed to be sulfuric acid, caused burn wounds on parts of Eni\'s body, including on both legs. "My two legs had burns from the thighs down to ankles," she recalled.

As a result of the criminal act, which so far the police have failed to solve, Eni was forced to take a rest from running. She had to heal for about four months and focus on the treatment for her burns. She also underwent several surgery sessions to heal the wounds. "I began to participate in the race again in February 2017," she said.

Before the incident, Eni also got the chance to take part in Lintas Sumbawa 2016, but she failed to reach the finish line.

When deciding to take part in Lintas Sumbawa 2017, the wounds on Eni\'s legs had actually not fully recovered.

"The recovery from burns takes a long time and can take one or two years. The muscles of my legs, anyway, were not affected, but the outer skin was still injured," she said. She mentioned that after suffering the burns it seems as if she runs with "new legs".

A week before departing for Sumbawa the burns on her legs got inflamed, which caused pain. This condition made Eni think about canceling her participation in Lintas Sumbawa 2017.

"I was hesitant to depart. Moreover, with such a condition, my preparations were very limited. At that time I was thinking, what\'s the use of going to Sumbawa, if I could not reach the finish line?" she said.

However, after undergoing therapy to reduce the inflammation of the scars, Eni determined to race and became the fastest runner in the individual category in Lintas Sumbawa 2017 by beating 14 other participants, including the champion of Lintas Sumbawa 2016, Matheos Berhitu, 44.

After starting together with other runners in Poto Tano, West Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, at 3 p.m. local time on Wednesday (5/4), Eni reached the finish line in Doro Ncanga, Dompu regency, West Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday (8/4) at 6:42 a.m. Eni\'s time record in the race was 63 hours 42 minutes, much faster than the achievement of Matheos, who completed Lintas Sumbawa 2016 in 71 hours 17 minutes.

However,  Eni\'s time had not exceeded the record of Alan Maulana in Lintas Sumbawa 2015, who finished the race on the same track in 62 hours 28 minutes. Whatever the achievement, the woman who now lives in Tangerang, Banten, deserves appreciation.

Patient

The Lintas Sumbawa running race is part of the Festival of the Charm of Tambora, which is held by the Tourism Ministry, the West Nusa Tenggara Provincial Administration, regency and city administrations in West Nusa Tenggara and Kompas newspaper. This year 15 people took part in the individual category and 12 participants in relay pairs.

The runners in the individual category, including Eni, had to cover a distance of 320 kilometers, equivalent to the distance between Yogyakarta and Surabaya and more than seven times a full marathon, with a cut-off time of 72 hours.

From the start of the race, Eni actually did not have the ambition to be the fastest runner. Her target was only to reach the finish line before the time limit. That was why she ran at a speed that was not too rapid. "I also did not think about the position of the other runners. Even if there were other runners in front of me, it did not matter because the most important thing was that I can reach the finish line," she said.

Throughout the race, Eni also took plenty of rest and consumed adequate nutrition so that her body had the endurance to finish the race. That was why, at seven checkpoints along the race track, Eni stopped for two hours on average. "At the checkpoint at Kilometer 200, I even had time to sleep for two hours," Eni said.

Eni also had to frequently stop because she had to clean the burn wounds on her legs. If they were not cleaned, the wounds had the potential to inflame and cause pain. "When they are exposed to heat or rain, the wounds are more susceptible to inflammation so I need to frequently clean them. Fortunately, during the race, the wounds were not troublesome," said the woman, who is an employee of a private company.

Eni\'s success this year could not be separated from an evaluation of her experience when she took part in Lintas Sumbawa 2016. In that race, she stopped at Kilometer 238 because of an injury in her leg she caused when forcing herself to run fast at the start of the race. At that time Eni rarely took a rest and got less nutrition intake.

Even though her name is quite well known among trail and ultra marathon runners in the country, Eni actually just started to run seriously in 2013. Like many other beginners, she first tried to run for five kilometers. "The objective of the run at that time was to maintain health and reduce body weight," she said.

However, Eni later fell in love in the trail and ultramarathon runs. She later got prizes in a number of competitions, such as Jakarta Ultra 100 2015, Coast to Coast Night Trail Running Race category 50 kilometers 2016, Sleman Ultra 100 2016 and Penang Ultra 100. "Every day I exercise by myself because I do not belong to any specific communities," said the graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Indonesia.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Eni Rosita

ENI ROSITA

Born: October 19, 1978

Education: State elementary school SD Negeri 2 Pemalang; State junior high school SMP Negeri 2 Pemalang; State senior high school SMA Negeri 1 Pemalang; Civil Engineering Department, University of Indonesia.