6:30 AM, July 26, 2026. The rice terraces of Desa Sebatu, Tegalalang, are still wrapped in mist, the kind that clings to your skin before the sun burns it off. Somewhere near the start line, a rooster crows over the murmur of runners doing last-minute stretches, checking laces, and pretending they’re not nervous. This is Naturun — Avenue Fitness’s answer to the trail run, built on the same love of getting lost in nature, minus the punishing climbs that keep half the trail-running world on the sidelines.
Around 50 runners lined up that morning, a number that hit the sweet spot perfectly. Big enough that the air crackled with pre-race energy. Small enough that by the finish line, strangers had turned into training partners for the day.
Not Quite Trail Run, All the Fun of It
If you’ve ever hesitated to sign up for a trail run because the thought of scrambling up muddy cliffs sounds like more punishment than pleasure, Naturun was built for you. It borrows the DNA of trail running — dirt paths, river crossings, unpredictable terrain — but dials down the intensity. No brutal climbs, no technical scrambles. Just you, the landscape, and a rhythm that lets you actually look up and take it all in.
And what a landscape it was. The route wove through emerald rice paddies still dewy from the night before, cut along a river where cold water rushed over ankles and into shoes nobody bothered to keep dry, and climbed toward the roar of Jasan Waterfall long before it came into view. That’s the moment the route earns its name — you hear the water before you see it, and by the time the falls break through the trees, most runners have already stopped checking their splits. Phones come out. Feet stay in place a little longer than planned. Nobody’s complaining about the delay.
Two Distances, One Shared Finish Line Feeling
Naturun offered two challenges for two different kinds of runners:
- 7.97km — for those who wanted the full experience without eating up their entire Sunday
- 13.04km — for the ones chasing a bigger story to tell afterward
Whichever distance runners picked, the finish line told the same story: soaked shoes, mud creeping up calves, and that particular grin that only shows up when a body is tired but a mind is completely satisfied. Some collapsed straight onto the grass. Others went hunting for their friends to compare notes on which river crossing was the coldest.
A Community Effort Behind the Scenes
None of this comes together without the people and partners standing behind it. Naturun 2026 was proudly supported by Rimbun Canggu, Safe Water, Kudeta, L-Men, Lush, Tygr, Just Oats, Protein Pump, and Telaga Swara — official partners who helped fuel, refresh, and take care of every runner on course.
Special appreciation also goes to the event’s sponsors, Asta Medical Center and Desa Sebatu, Tegalalang, Gianyar, whose support — medical and logistical — made sure runners felt safe and the village itself became part of the story, not just the backdrop.
More Than a Race
At its core, Naturun was never really about splits and finish times. It was about waking up before the sun, nodding at a farmer already knee-deep in the paddies, feeling a waterfall get louder with every stride, and crossing the finish line surrounded by people who chose the exact same slightly-crazy, thoroughly-beautiful way to spend their Sunday morning.
The mud has since dried off, the shoes are (mostly) clean again — but if the sound of that waterfall stayed with anyone half as long as it stayed with us, Sebatu’s rice fields haven’t seen the last of Naturun.
Until the next one.
