Agus Prayogo has finally overcome his psychological trauma from a past injury that has haunted him and led him to avoid marathons for the past year.
By
ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH & DENTY PIAWAI NASTITI
·4 minutes read
NEW CLARK CITY, KOMPAS — Agus Prayogo has finally overcome his psychological trauma from a past injury that has haunted him and led him to avoid marathons for the past year. After the 2018 Asian Games, Agus slowly improved his mental condition while training at the Pangalengan tea plantation in West Java. He said that he felt reborn after winning gold in marathon at the Philippines 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
This was Agus’ first SEA Games marathon gold. Two years ago in Malaysia, he won silver after finishing second with a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds. This led Agus to having a big dream of achieving higher at the 2018 Asian Games.
Due to the failure, Agus’ confidence dropped and he chose to avoid marathons for almost a year.
However, it was injury that he faced. After KM 30 at the 2018 Asian Games marathon, the runner who was born in Bogor, West Java, on 23 August 1985 felt severe muscle rigidity. The severe pain forced Agus to drop out. Due to the failure, Agus’ confidence dropped and he chose to avoid marathons for almost a year.
However, with better preparation, Agus rose again. He found a new lease of life in marathon. This was proven by the gold in the 2019 SEA Games marathon in New Clark City, the Philippines, on Friday (6/12/2019).
Agus finished first with a time of two hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds. Thai runner Namkhet Sanchai won silver with a time of two hours, 27 minutes and 18 seconds. Meanwhile, Malaysian runner Muhaizar won bronze with a time of two hours, 33 minutes and eight seconds.
“I am very happy with this gold as this is my first gold in the SEA Games marathon and the first athletic gold for Indonesia at the 2019 SEA Games. Hopefully, this will motivate the other athletes,” said Agus, who has won four golds in 10K runs in previous SEA Games (2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017) as well as one gold in a 5K run (2011).
Agus’ marathon gold contributed to Indonesia’s medal tally on Friday, namely 13 golds, five silvers and eight bronzes. In the overall medal tally, Indonesia had the runner-up position with 40 golds, 41 silvers and 47 bronzes as of Friday at 10:12 p.m. Jakarta time. Host Philippines still led the pack with 71 golds, 55 silvers and 50 bronzes.
Rebirth
The SEA Games 2019 marathon gold marked Agus’ rebirth. After his failure in the 2018 Asian Games due to injury, Agus was traumatized by marathons. He decided to avoid them and focused instead on 5K and 10K runs where he excelled. “I was traumatized and tried avoiding marathons for almost a year,” Agus said.
However, thanks to his persistence and hard work at Pangalengan, Agus has risen again. The Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI) focused its training for long-distance runners in temperate Pangalengan to improve their concentration.
He won with a time of two hours, 36 minutes and 44 seconds.
In mid-2019, Agus started participating in half marathons. At the 2019 Gold Coast Marathon, he broke the national half-marathon record of one hour, seven minutes and five seconds with his won one hour, six minutes and 26 seconds. Agus only reentered marathons at the Maybank Marathon Bali on 8 September. He won with a time of two hours, 36 minutes and 44 seconds.
In preparing for the 2019 SEA Games, Agus prepared himself better. He even prepared himself for the damp and hot weather of New Clark City. Two to three months ahead of this year’s SEA Games, Agus switched to training in Bandung, which is hotter than Pangalengan.
“In the 2017 SEA Games, I was focused on 10K gold and I got it. This time, I focused on winning gold in marathon. My preparation for marathon was more optimized, including adapting to weather,” Agus said.
Agus will also participate in the 5K run (Monday) and 10K run (Saturday). However, he said that he would only be at his best during the 5K run. The 10K run takes place just one day after the marathon finals and he will not have enough time to rest by then.
PASI secretary-general Tigor M Tanjung said that he hoped Agus’ gold would motivate other athletes, whose competitions are scheduled on 7-10 December. The athletic team have 18 men and 17 women competing in 23 categories. Their target is to win at least five golds.