Two hundred runners, 100 each from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), ran from Wutung to Skouw in the International Cross Border 10K run on Wednesday.
The race started at Wafa village, Vanimo, 7.5 kilometers from the RI-PNG border in Wutung, PNG, and finished in Skouw, Indonesia. The event, which took ‘Run for Friendship’ as its theme, started at 8 a.m. eastern Indonesia time (WIT).
Heavy rain did not affect the participants who kept in high spirits throughout the race. The event was dominated by male runners with only eight of the 200 participants being female.
Hanafi of Indonesia came in first place in the male category, completing the course in 31 minutes. Another Indonesian national, FG Manori, took first place in the female category with a time of 44 minutes. The first placed runners both received a cash prize of Rp 5 million.
The cross border race was the first of its kind held between the two neighboring countries and was made possible thanks to cooperation between the Indonesian Papua province administration and the PNG Sandaun provincial administration, as well as the support of PT Freeport Indonesia as the event partner.
“Run for Friendship” is scheduled to be held annually.
Indonesian consulate general to Vanimo, Jahar Gultom, said that the event was symbolic of improving cooperation between the two countries in areas including economy and security.
“The two countries will remain neighbors forever. That is why a good relationship must be improved, maintained and nurtured,” Jahar said.
Jahar said that RI and PNG share a border that extends from Jayapura to Merauke for 760 kilometers. Along that line, he continued, lives communities from both countries who are involved in interactions with one another.
“We really hope this event will be held again and will increase the quality of the relationship between Indonesia and PNG,” Vanimo Mayor Titus Mandui said.
Jayapura Deputy Mayor Nur Alam expressed the same, saying that in the future, Jayapura and Vanimo’s relationship could be further improved, by initiatives such as economic collaboration and expansion and hinted that the two could become twin cities.