Depok, July 17th 2023. The campus area of Universitas Indonesia (UI), Depok, West Java, was alive with the buzz of marathon runners that had arrived since early morning. UI, UI Alumni Relations (ILUNI), and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) collaborated to hold the BNI-UI Half Marathon for the fifth time. The theme of this year’s marathon was “The Greenest and Most Sterile Route Half Marathon” and there were more than 5.500 people that signed up to the event. BNI-UI Half Marathon offered an experience of running around the campus area that is surrounded by trees and free from pollution.
Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs of Indonesia (Menpora RI), Ario Bimo Nandito Ariotedjo, S.H., who was present at the event, expressed his appreciation to the BNI-UI Half Marathon for being successfully held every year. He hoped that the half-marathon would soon be upgraded into a marathon.
“We are aware that both the runners community and athletes have been missing local marathon events around Jabodetabek. We hope UI will be able to increase the amount of sport events as well as developing their youths. The Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs of Indonesia is ready to provide support because we believe that through this collaboration with UI, Indonesia could grow to be better. Once again, I’m conveying my gratitude to UI, ILUNI UI, and respected sponsors for successfully conducting the BNI-UI Half Marathon,” said the minister.
This collaborative sport event between ILUNI UI and UI along with various stakeholders aimed to promote healthy lifestyle and encourage people to be physically active. UI’s University Secretary, dr. Agustin Kusumayati, M.Sc., Ph.D., stated that UI is a campus that has been developing itself to become a health university. In fact, UI ranked as the best in the South East Asian health university assessment.
“One of the main aspects of a health university is how it can contribute in providing various facilities that can be used by the society. That being said, we’re opening the campus area for everyone to utilize. This is UI’s contribution to society in encouraging a healthy lifestyle. We hope that after the BNI-UI Half Marathon, more people will come to exercise around the campus area,” said dr. Agustin.
In regards to the technicalities of the BNI-UI Half Marathon, the committee changed the marathon route for the first time this year. Participants of all categories, either the 5K runners, 10K runners, and Half-Marathon runners, will have to run through the forest that is around the campus area. BNI-UI Half Marathon also opened a special category for athletes by inviting young athletes that have the potential in the development of local and national athletes. On top of that, a special category was also made for the campus alumni in order to tighten the bond between runners amongst the UI alumni.
Chairman of ILUNI UI, Didit Ratam, mentioned a partnership with Danone and Universitas Indonesia Hospital (RSUI) during the BNI-UI Half Marathon Event. Together with Danone, ILUNI UI placed multiple bins for plastic waste throughout the marathon area. Those plastic waste will be recycled to prevent it from polluting the area. ILUNI UI also collaborated with RSUI to promote a healthy lifestyle towards the runners.
On the other hand, Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris, stated that through the Directorate Graduate Career Development and UI Alumni Relations (DPKHA), UI has the vision to integrate every component and UI graduates to build upon and contribute to UI’s development through the collection of endowment funds. Alumni’s contribution to endowment funds is manifested through this event.
“Endowment fund is very beneficial as it can be used to fund various activities that are in accordance with Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi (the university’s three main responsibilities of education, research, and community service). The endowment fund has been growing and we are very grateful because the younger students will be able to get the chance for scholarships as a result of this endowment fund. That’s why we’re hoping the fund will keep increasing. We believe that UI is able to use the fund transparently and effectively to give the biggest support for UI’s future development,” stated Prof. Haris.
The winners of the BNI-UI Half Marathon were announced at the end of the event. For each track, which are the 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon, there were female and male winners in the General, Alumni, and Masters (45+) category. Hendrik Marlyonda, Gunawan Atulo, and Amirudin Asabha were the winners for the Half-Marathon (Invitation) category. On the other hand, Ranto won the Half Marathon Course Record category with 1 hour 11 minutes and 15 seconds as his record.
The Chancellor of the Academic Senate, Prof. Nachrowi Djalal Nachrowi, M.Sc., M.PHil., Ph.D., hoped that this type of event will continue to grow. For example, changing the venue for the marathon from UI to Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) considering that there are currently more than 700.000 UI alumni and the majority of them live in Jakarta. “This marathon event is a good chance to foster good connections between alumni and between the alumni and UI. Through informal connection, formal partnership can hopefully be done easier,” said Prof. Nachrowi.
