In partnership with

I’ve been back in Timor-Leste working for the past 10 days so, of course, I’ve been out running. It’s my second time here and while it feels like a surprising amount has changed, I’m happy to say the capital Dili is just as charming as I found it 12 months ago.

I arrived at President Nicolau Lobato International Airport (not as grand as it sounds) a little the worse for wear having been knocked around for the preceding week by a case of man flu. I think getting soaked and then standing for half an hour on the cold, windy start line of the Sunny Coast half did my constitution no good at all.

So I was very glad to be enveloped by the warm, slightly moist, embrace of Dili’s seriously tropical climate. It may never get properly cold in Brisbane, but nevertheless I was looking forward to running in the warmth for a change.

I’m in the same digs this time as last, my hotel’s a block from the waterfront which makes for picturesque, if flat, running. While I’ve been road running, the state of the footpaths here makes a road run in Dili more technical than many trails I’ve run back home.

Unless you’re careful, you can literally disappear down some of the holes in the pavement. That doesn’t deter the locals though – every morning and evening there’s a steady stream of both men and women striding out along the waterfront.

Because of the heat and humidity here, I tend to try to get out before sunrise, which rolls around just before 7am. As well as being the coolest part of the day, this also means the chance to watch the sunrise as I’m running, which is spectacular.

I did make one afternoon run, 14k out towards Cristo Rei, a 28 metre tall statue of Christ situated on a headland on the city’s eastern fringe. By the time I got back to the hotel I was cooked – metaphorically and (almost) literally.

As a heavy sweater, humidity is definitely not my friend!

Controlled chaos

The weather aside, running here is pretty amazing. The traffic looks like complete chaos. But after a while, you come to realise it’s controlled chaos. Everyone does whatever they like on the roads but because that’s the universal attitude, and they’re all travelling at a sedate speed, it all seems to work out for the best.

Often, there’s no choice but to run on the road, with the cars, scooters, motorbikes, minibuses, jalopies chooks and stray dogs. That’s because in some places there is no footpath, and in others the footpath is so dodgy it’s safer on the road!

Last year this gave me the heebie-jeebies, but this time around it’s felt natural enough to slip down onto the road whenever the going got too tough on the footpath.

Running here is so foreign (funny that), that there’s always something to look at – or to stop and take a photo of. So it’s not best suited for a tempo run or a hard effort, not that I felt up to that anyway given my brave battle with man flu.

Rubble

One thing I couldn’t help but notice this time around was the amount of demolition that’s taken place across the city. In the past 12 months there has definitely been a concerted drive to knock down old buildings – and some that are not so old.

In many parts of the city there are now large expanses of rubble. Nowhere is this more stark than on the road to Cristo Rei. I discovered from locals that this destruction is part of an infrastructure project to widen the road to Cristo Rei, which is the city’s top tourist attraction.

This sort of compulsory acquisition of property isn’t that unusual as part of critical infrastructure projects – it happens at home all the time. But I can’t help but wonder what’s become of the people whose homes and businesses have been destroyed since last time I was here.

As I ran past last weekend, there was a man literally knocking walls down with a sledge hammer by the roadside. I guess it’s the price of progress, but it all seems a bit brutal to me.

Morning worship

Timor-Leste is a former Portuguese colony and as such is staunchly Catholic. On my morning runs I went past the Church of Saint Anthony of Motael, a church of great religious and historical significance to the Timorese.

Around dawn on weekdays, the church is full of worshippers. They overflow onto the front lawn, where they were knelt in prayer as I ran past. At other times, I saw groups of Timorese sat in the gardens outside the church in silent prayer at the foot of a religious statue.

A statue of Mary in a park just outside my hotel also draws dozens of the faithful at all times of the day and night. They sit in silent contemplations, or light candles in remembrance. Before leaving, each stands, places a hand at the foot of the virgin then makes the sign of the cross before moving on.

I’m not remotely religious, but I found this deeply moving.

Move it, move it

Speaking of moving, of an afternoon in Dili, there’s plenty of movement going in. If this city isn’t the plyometrics capital of the world, I’d like to know where is!

Every afternoon, young people gather around the November 12 Monument across the road from the Motael Church. This monument features a huge statue of an independence protester holding a fallen comrade.

The statue commemorates the massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery. What started as a peaceful protest on 12 November 1991 ended in a massacre when Indonesian troops opened fire on the crowd at the cemetery.

More than 270 people died, with another 250 officially listed as missing after the shooting. It’s a reminder of the horrors the people of Timor have endured – colonised by Portugal in the 1500s then invaded in 1975 by Indonesia days after declaring independence from the Portuguese.

The Indonesian occupation was brutal, but the Santa Cruz massacre became a turning point in the fight for independence because it threw the international spotlight on the plight of the Timorese. International pressure gradually ramped up and Timor-Leste became the world’s newest nation in 2002.

(It’s not lost on me that the international spotlight only shifted to Timor due to the incredible bravery of journalist Max Stahl who filmed the massacre and was able to smuggle the footage out - in truly remarkable circumstances - so it could be broadcast to the world. I’m in Timor helping lift the capability of the local journos. The recent history of this place – I was just starting my career when the massacre took place, so it’s hardly ancient history – throws into pretty stark relief how important this work is.)

Anyway, I digress. The point is every evening dozens of locals head to the November 12 Monument to strut their stuff. This involves all manner of physical exertions. I’ve never seen a broader range of bending, stretching, leaping and jumping being performed in one place.

The beach is another favourite location for physical exercise. Runners will pass people shadow-boxing, lunging, squatting and performing all manner of indescribable calisthenics. It really is impressive!

As you receive this email, I’m on my way home from Dili. It’s been another fabulous trip and a running adventure. I hope it won’t be the last time I’m here. Next time, I’d like to check out the trails in the mountains above the city.

I got a taste of that during a hike with the “Dili Walkers” on this visit. Suffice to say it’s a tropical paradise, with the advantage of being a few degrees cooler thanks to the elevation.

Upcoming Events

There are way too many events for me to list everything that’s happening around the country, but here is a selection of upcoming races (with a bias towards South East Queensland).

The Running Calendar website is a great source if you want a comprehensive understanding of what’s available around the country.