Tuesday, February 11, 2014

IndoRunners LUAS (RUN DMC = RUN Donate Motivate Charity) program, news article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Article excerpt "From Running to Caring" (Bloomberg Businessweek, Indonesia edition, February 3rd 2014):
 


"Running for social causes is growing. Case in point = Indonesia's largest running community IndoRunners routinely run and record their collective distance to the Endomondo website for charity, through a social activity called LUAS (Lari Untuk Amal Sosial), loosely translated in English as RUN DMC (RUN Donate Motivate Charity)

LUAS is currently supported by PT BW Plantation Tbk, a publicly listed company which has a common vision of social responsibility with IndoRunners. Each kilometer from the LUAS program is valued at approximately 1 US Dollar by BW the palm-oil company (up to 150,000km or US$150,000) and another listed company PT Golden Retailindo (up to 50,000km or US$50,000). The first phase of the LUAS effort was started on May 30th last year, with a target of "raising" 200,000 km within 6 months. From May to November 2013, LUAS ended up accumulating 396,998 kilometers, which led to BW and Golden fulfilling their $200,000 commitment. BW donated the $150,000 towards the building of a new Betang Pambelum hospital in the city of Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan) and Golden earmarked their $50,000 contribution to build halfway houses in impoverished rural areas of Jakarta. 

The successful first phase was immediately continued to the second stage, this time with IndoRunners having to deliver 150,000km to BW Plantation within a maximum period of 4 months, from 5 December 2013 - 5 April 2014. BW will again match each km with US 1 dollar, with a ceiling commitment to donate another US$ 150,000 to continue the building of the aforementioned Betang Pambelum hospital in the island of Kalimantan. "We are so amazed and grateful for the enthusiasm of IndoRunners to help improve the health care quality in Palangkaraya. We are touched by this and will continue to support LUAS for the second phase," said Mr. Alexander Benyamin, Managing Director of BW Plantation. 

For Holip Soekawan, committee member of IndoRunners and the initiator of the LUAS program, he finds new meaning in his running by coupling it for a cause. "In addition to running for health, I am now thinking about the additional benefit my running generates for others. The motivation to run becomes double." 

Holip had been active in running for a cause since his involvement with AUSCI, the Alumni of University of Southern California in Indonesia. AUSCI had done various run-related efforts to help build libraries in the state primary schools of impoverished areas in Indonesia. Holip was inspired by an AUSCi committee member who participated in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon to raise funds for their library-building effort. This led him to sign up for the Bali Marathon in April 2012. The two "Running for Reading Rooms" marathons resulted in over a dozen new libraries built in Padang (West Sumatra) and Sleman (Central Java). 

Joining a running community has helped Holip's confidence in running. Prior to the Bali Marathon, Holip had never ran further than 10 kilometers, and he was barely a once-a-month runner. By joining IndoRunners, a community of over 25,000 runners, Holip has increased his running frequency, along with the heightened momentum of running-for-charity. 

In the beginning Holip felt out of place in IndoRunners. He didn't feel that he was a "runner," but after joining their group runs, he found IndoRunners to be very open to runners from all levels. "People run for different reasons. Some seek distance, some run for self-meaning. All is fair as I think everyone ends up becoming healthier through this exercise," quips Holip, who also now have his own running team within IndoRunners, Team Chubby

Each week Holip tries to run 5 times, including weekdays and weekend. During the working week, he runs around the streets near his home for a minimal distance of 3,5km. On the weekend, he runs, sometime with his family, at the Car Free Day zone in Sudirman/Jakarta, with a minimum distance of 10km. Amazingly, he had also done the Run-to-Work thing a few times, trekking from his home in Menteng to Lebak Bulus, a distance of 17km in congested Jakarta. Tired? "Yes of course.. but perhaps such runs would be more invigorating if Jakarta's weather is pollution-free" said Holip. 

If running used to be cheap because it didn't require much equipment, now running seems a bit commercial because of special running shoes and technical t-shirts. And then there's the gadgets that help to measure time and distance. That said, running clubs in general do not require these accessories. Such is also the case with running shoes, which is surprisingly not a requirement to be a runner. According to Holip, the highly cushioned shoes are so comfortable, that runners may not pay attention to good running form. Sometimes the illusion of comfort lead runners to strike their heels in a high-impact fashion, instead of the (better) stride quickly running form. Jokingly, Holip says "there are plenty of runners who do it barefoot, perhaps to get the benefit of reflexology at the same time." 

Whatever the reason if you want to start running, it is best that you prepare your physical condition. Do not over exert yourself in any exercise as it may end up endangering your safety. With that in mind, if you are currently practicing a sedentary lifestyle, stop running away from reality, and start to actually run." (Bloomberg Business Week, Indonesia, 3 Feb 2014 edition)

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ORIGINAL excerpt of article in Bahasa Indonesia:

"Tren lari pun berkembang lebih luas dalam bidang sosial. Setidaknya ini yang tengah dilakoni komunitas penggemar lari IndoRunners. Mereka rutin berlari dan mencatatkan jarak tempuhnya ke dalam aplikasi Endomondo. Tetapi, anggota IndoRunners juga menyumbangkan jarak tempuhnya yang tercatat itu untuk kegiatan amal.

Nama kegiatan IndoRunners itu Lari Untuk Amal Sosial (LUAS). Program ini didukung oleh PT BW Plantation Tbk, yang dinilai punya visi tanggung jawab sosial sejalan dengan IndoRunners. Perhitungannya, setiap kilometer lari yang tercatat di Endomondo akan dihargai menjadi donasi Rp.10.000 dari perusahaan kelapa sawit itu. Tahap pertama berlangsung pada 30 Mei tahun lalu dengan target jarak lari 200.000 kilometer. Selama enam bulan, hingga November, jarak lari tercatat mencapai 396.998 kilometer dan membuahkan donasi Rp. 2 miliar dari PT BW Plantation Tbk dan PT Golden Retailindo Tbk. Sumbangan itu dipakai membangun Rumah Sakit Betang Pambelum, Palangkaraya dan fasilitas olahraga lari di ibu kota Kalimantan Tengah ini.

Sukses tersebut membuat tahap kedua digelar sejak December hingga April mendatang dengan target jarak lari 150.000 kilometer. "Kami begitu kagum dan berterima kasih dengan antusiasme para pelari kita terhadap peningkatan kualitas kesehatan di Palangkaraya. Kami tersentuh untuk meningkatkan komitmen dengan melanjutkan LUAS tahap kedua." kata Alexander Benyamin, Managing Director BW Plantation.

Bagi Holip Soekawan, komite IndoRunners dan penggagas program LUAS, dengan beramal, ia menemukan arti baru dari berlari yang rutin dijalaninya. "Selain berlari untuk kesehatan, saya kini berlari sambil memikirkan nasib donasi. Jadi semangatnya dobel," katanya. Sejak bergabung dengan komunitas alumni yang kuliah di University of Southern California, Holip aktif dalam kegiatan amal. Mereka rutin menggalang dana untuk mendirikan ruang baca di sejumlah sekolah di pelosok Indonesia. Terinspirasi inisiatif sang kawan yang menggalang dana dengan ikut maraton di Hong Kong, dia pun nekat ikut Bali Marathon dengan alasan serupa. Hasilnya, belasan ruang baca dibangun dari tetes keringat para pelari ini.

Bergabung dengan komunitas lari juga semakin memacu pencapaiannya. Sebelum ikut Bali Marathon, paling jauh dia hanya berlari 10 kilometer. Itu pun sebulan dan hanya sekali. Tapi, berkat IndoRunners yang memiliki 25.000 anggota, dia makin rutin berlari, apalagi intensitas kegiatan lari untuk amal kian tinggi.

Awalnya Holip minder di IndoRunners. Dia bukan 'pelari', tapi setelah bergabung, ternyata IndoRunners sangat terbuka menerima semua tipe pelari. "People run for different reasons. Ada yang mengincar jarak tempuh, ada yang untuk eksistensi diri. Menurut saya yang penting sehat berolahraga," kata Holip santai. Dia juga punya tim lari bemama Tim Chubby.

Setiap hari (seminggu 5 kali) dia sempatkan berlari, tak peduli hari kerja atau hari libur. Kalau hari kerja. dia lakukan di sekitar rumah sedari pukul enam pagi dengan minimal jarak 3,5 kilometer. Saat libur dia mengunjungi Car Free Day di Jalan Sudirman-Thamrin, Jakarta, bersama keluarga untuk berlari minimal 10 kilometer. Lebih gilanya, beberapa kali dia menganyunkan kaki berlari dari rumahnya di Menteng menuju kantor yang berada di Lebak Bulus, Jakarta Selaian. Capek? "Ya capek hahaha... Tapi mungkin lebih segar kalau udara Jakarta bebas polusi." katanya.

Jika dahulu lari dianggap olahraga murah lantaran tidak butuh alat. Kini, lari mulai dianggap cukup komersial karena memerlukan running shoes dengan harga yang tak murah dan kaos olahraga khusus. Belum lagi kalau berlari sambil membawa gadget untuk mencatat jarak dan waktu tempuh. Tentu tak semua begitu karena banyak klub lari tidak memandang mahal atau murah. Begitu pula dengan sepatu lari yang sebetulnya bukan standar utama dalam berlari. Menurut Holip, justru saking nyamannya sol running shoes, terkadang membuat pelari enggan memperhatikan teknik berlari, padahal jika kaki terlalu dihentak bisa membuat cidera. "Sekarang ada kok yang nyeker sambil lari, alasannya sekalian refleksi," katanya seraya tertawa. 


Apa pun alasan berlari, sebaiknya Anda tidak lupa mempersiapkan kondisi tubuh. Jangan memacu diri melewati batas dalam berolahraga karena justru bisa membahayakan kesehatan. Jadi, bila Anda sedang menjalani gaya hidup tak sehat saat ini, segeralah berhenti lari dari kenyataan dan mulailah berlari."

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For the complete article, please purchase the Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine.

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