“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are where the gold is.”
- Grant Denyer
Happy happy Wednesday.
I’m so excited to be back in Bali in a few weeks to be a part of this event again after a long 5 years.
This time I’m teaming up with my good mate Harry, Harry and I met on the Bali Hope Ultra week and since then I’ve basically moved into his house and we’ve been roomies and best pals ever since. The Bali Hope family have played a big role in my life and I draw so much inspiration from all the athletes I’ve been lucky enough to meet especially from Tom Hickman, the founder of Bali Hope. I’ll be coming up to my 4th Bali Hope event. It’s so cool to see the events level up year after year. I look forward to seeing where Tom and the team take it moving forward.
Below is my recap of the event and race from 2019. I’m proud of young Jonathan for the risks he took and leapt at events and opportunities like these.
Firstly, a little background, Bali Hope is an organisation that works closely with Bali Children’s Foundation, supporting and educating disadvantaged children in the Bali community. I First stumbled across Bali Hope after a welcomed catch-up with two of my mates, Josh Lynott and Jackson Groves, who had previously competed in this event in 2018. I immediately knew I had to make this happen the following year. I kept my word. Weeks went by and I jumped on the phone to Bali Hope Swim/Run creator, Tom Hickman, and booked my spot in the 2019 event.
Bali Hope Swim/Run isn’t just any event, nor is it just a race. The goal behind the event is to bring a wide range of athletes from all over the globe, to race across a beautiful small island – Nusa Lembongan, Just a 35-minute boat ride from the main island of Bali. It is an open event, meaning that anyone can enter and there are technically no fitness requirements. I think this is what makes the event so special, as well as the picturesque, dreamy location.
A holiday destination that you can say you’ve raced across and supported? Big yes in my eyes.
The only ask, fundraising $3000 – going directly towards sustaining the upkeep of the island recycling centre, and the local education system. As most of you may already know Bali’s plastic pollution problem is next to none, so any piece of support they receive from local charities as such, is greatly appreciated. The event runs over three nights, giving us time to connect with the island and other athletes, as well getting behind the scenes of the charities themselves – visiting the schools and recycling centre –seeing your money put to great work, and sharing the experience of making a difference with a whole team of like minded individuals. The race itself involves 22km of running and 3km of swimming.
· Teams of two racing
· Always keep within 10m of your teammate
· The race is broken into 9 stages
· The longest swim being 650m
· The longest run being 7km
· And yes, you swim in your running shoes, and run in wet, sandy shoes
· Swimming paddles are not required – but make it a hell of a lot easier to gain speed in the swim
· The race commences 650m offshore
My team-mate was Dylan Nicholson, 19, from the Gold Coast. We had both originally signed up solo and did not meet until landing in Bali. We had the pleasure of spending three days, indulging in smoothie bowls and enjoying all Bali has to offer, before meeting up with the rest of the Bali Hope team and heading to Nusa Lembongan. Prior to race day, we had two full days of interacting with the crew; getting to know everyone’s story and background was truly inspiring and motivating.
One of the days is called ‘impact day’, where we visit the recycling centre and the school, both in dire need of our fundraising. Personally, I think this day was the most important day of the event; to not only support a charity but personally see to where it is going makes the entire journey all that more special. The local Balinese children’s welcome of smiles bigger than you’ve seen and wide-open hugs is enough to get anyone to sign up.
Race day was special – the energy that morning was something so different to what I’ve felt before. The nerves were settling in, but they were well expected. There weren’t any expectations from anyone – only the ones that lay in the back of your mind; there’s always a goal whether that be a time or a position. With Dylan having previous history in high level water sports, it was clear he would pull us through the swimming stints, and alternatively I would pull us in the running; each of us pushing the other that extra percent when we could see they were flat.
Dylan and I surprisingly came through with third place overall. But of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing; in true Bali Hope style we had a slight mishap of losing each other in the middle of the race, we won’t name names, but someone took a wrong turn… we battled hard to keep third and finished strong… and together. Being the youngest team was strange yet so fulfilling. It always a good feeling being the young ones in an event like this because your surrounded by so many incredibly inspiring and humbling people, with anywhere from 5-20 years of life experience on you.
There’s no doubt at all that you will come away from those three days with almost too much to think about; from career goals to much deeper questions we should all be asking – how you want to spend your one and only life and who to surround yourself with in the day to day of that beautiful life?
Signing up solo, jumping on a plane, meeting new people, are all big ticks in the boxes that yell adventure to me.
Opportunities like these don’t just come, these are the opportunities we make for ourselves. Put yourself out there. Make the move.
Loving the recap - after all those stacks about bali hope I almost feel like signing up myself!