"We express our gratitude to your outstanding participation in Indonesia's 80th Independence Anniversary events. Today, we commemorate the day with sports activities," Hadi stated at the Merdeka Palace here on Sunday.
Merdeka Run, being the last of the events organised by the government for the 2025 Independence Day anniversary, is intended to motivate all Indonesians of various ages and groups to be healthy and united in building the Indonesian nation.
"We want to be healthy. To build Indonesia and to bring progress to our people, we must be healthy," the minister stated.
Among the 8,000 runners participating in the Merdeka Run were Red-and-White Cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid, and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
Thousands of enthused runners thronged the road in front of Jakarta's Merdeka Palace, which was the starting point of Merdeka Run, since 5:30 a.m. local time.
Minister Hadi, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, and Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo flagged off the runners at 6:30 a.m. Before the run, the participants sang together the national anthem, "Indonesia Raya," and were entertained by a flypast performance from the Indonesian Air Force's pilots.
After flagging off the runners, Minister Hadi joined the run from West Medan Merdeka Road and continued southward to Sudirman and Thamrin roads.
Cabinet Secretary Wijaya also ran alongside his peers from the "Pandurilastaka" batch, the 2011 class of the Military Academy in Magelang. After completing his run, Wijaya proceeded to the National Monument Square and handed over prizes for Merdeka Run winners.
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Translator: Genta Tenri M, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Primayanti
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