LSD 006 -In the spirit of adventure

Welcome back, I wanted to write a simple recap on the past weekends LSD run. I think it will have a bit of that alongside what I think makes our run club in Bali special.

If you don’t know, LSD stands for Long Slow Distance. It’s a global celebration hosted monthly by our friends at Satisfy. Pretty cool to have our little Seseh run club be in the mix with run crews from Paris, Hong Kong, LA, London, Sydney, Milan, Berlin . The idea is to celebrate running and enjoy each others company with apres coffee and snacks provided.

I truly believe there is some magic ( one might call it runners high ) that comes along somewhere past 12 km. To have the energy of a group pushing each other along, conversations flowing and the level of accomplishment makes for a memorable run.

For this run we decided to take inspiration from HHH ( Hash House Harriers ) and lay out a trail of shredded paper to mark the route. We did this the evening before and it was a fun 2 hours into the dark of building the route like a puzzle of previous exploring and combinations of little sections to make a loop. (Thanks Arno & Iman ) The whole idea was to actually force the group to slow down, enjoy the route, the beautiful scenery and how amazing it is to run in Bali. We added one spicy section that was dubbed the spider man tunnel. More on that below.

It was amazing to have over 100 people show up in the dark at 6 am. Trying to explain the paper and chalk markings to a bunch of people half asleep was interesting but If anything I learned a lot for the next one. About half the runners decided on a shorter distance which broke off about a KM in. There was a crucial turn around KM 4 that a lot of people missed, but they all just continued to the previous route which is also beautiful. For those that followed the route it was a pretty special morning. (Although some weren’t so fond. )

Running allows us to explore places at a pretty ideal pace. Cycling is a bit too fast most of the time and is limited, walking is slow and you can’t cover much ground. 

 From experience and in an effort to make run club memorable we try to add in a sprinkle of adventure or challenge. These are the main ingredients for a good story. 

The section mentioned above was a slippery little moss covered footpath about one foot wide and three feet above the subak ( Bali’s famous water system & something you wouldn’t generally want to be falling into.) It had plastic pipes sticking out at various heights and a long pvc pipe that was above your head horizontally across the wall acting as a flimsy safety wire. The energy when our group arrived here made me laugh and glad we added this element to the run. As soon as one person does it the rest seem to gain more confidence. Some dared to jump across the river, while everyone else tip toed and channelled their inner spider man to get across. 

For me its nice to see adults having fun, playing and not taking the run so serious. This is something I love about our run club. We get to explore and take people places they might not normally see. The trail element adds a level of awareness and creativity not typically found or embraced on a road run. 

The crew laughed and supported one another through the next half of the run which took us down some previously unexplored paths, a bit of bushwhacking and back to the cafe where the vibe was high. I almost love this time as much as the run. To see everyone accomplish their distance, arrive back and have such genuine chats is such an integral part of what a run club can be and something that is hard to find anywhere else. It’s a special mix of post run endorphins and caffeine. What a combo. 

Having people posting and telling us it was their favorite run ever made running it twice in 12 hours worthwhile. We are super grateful for this community we have grown together, the fact so many people make it part of their travel itinerary and tell their friends means the absolute world to us. Next month’s LSD is lining up to be very special and we will let you know more as soon as we can. 

Until then, enjoy your runs, coffee and chats.  

Big thanks to Satisfy and our content crew Iman & Yogi for capturing the feeling. 

See ya next time, 

FLOWERBOY.