There’s been a storm brewing in Indonesia’s social media teacup over the running accomplishments of President SBY’s No. #1 son, Agus,  and the debate that is still raging now is whether the athletic presidential scion is an inspiration or an object of contempt for others.

The incident unfolded yesterday after Agus and friends from his running club, Garuda Finishers, finished the Adidas King of the Road run at BSD. For his troubles Agus was awarded a medal for completion and all would have been fine except for his tweets, coupled with the fact that he had asked the run’s organisers to set up a separate run for him since the event had actually finished by the time he got there.

Agus, you see, had been a busy boy. That morning he was up at the crack of dawn to run at a 10K race to commemorate the Indonesian Military’s 68th anniversary at 6.30am. Being a runner and not a sprinter, he finished that race, and being a sporty chap with lots of adrenaline to spake then proceeded to run at the Adidas run. The only problem was that that even started at 5:30 am and finished at 8:30am.

Agus and mates got there after that but so keen they were to hit the pavement that they told the race organisers to re-erect the run signage, the starting and finishing line as well as to bring back the timing officials so that they could run the 16.5 km race and get a medal for their accomplishments.

Perhaps finding it difficult to say no to a Presidential Son, the race organisers obliged  (Agus’s supporters were to claim that they had informed the race organisers that they would be late and the organisers said no problem, just mosey along whenever they are ready).

All that would have been a low-key affair except that Agus is not only fleet with his feet but with his fingers as well. he posted two tweets about himself, obviously so that his admirers can admire him all the more and be inspired by his example.

The first had the message: “Never..Never..Never give up…I ran 17K at the King of the Road this morning” accompanied by a picture of him and his chums running in the race.

Then he posted another message: “Always finish what you have started. Salam @GarudaFinishers 🏃🏃🏃” with a photo of him and the coveted medal for finishers

All of this must have been very inspirational to his supporters and water carriers but quite a few social media users, perhaps sick to death of seeing who they perceive as privileged children bend the rules and getting all sorts of special treatment, had a different view and the social media scene has since been all the more lively for the different views being espoused by Agus’s supporters and detractors.

So what do you think? Is Agus perfectly a sporty and spirited young man that should serve as an inspiration to aspiring runners everywhere, especially with his exhortations of persistence and seeing things to the end? Or is he just another spoilt brat from a privileged family who has no self awareness of what a schmuck he appears to be?

Below is today’s article in Kompas.com about the incident:

Ketika Agus Yudhoyono Telat Lari Maraton…

KOMPAS.com — Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, putra sulung Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, menjadi perbincangan di lini masa Twitter dalam dua hari terakhir. Semua berawal dari gambar ataupun kicauannya di Twitter terkait partisipasinya di ajang lari maraton Adidas King of the Road, di BSD City, Minggu (29/9/2013) pagi.

Dengan mengunggah fotonya saat mengikuti lari maraton, Agus melalui akunnya @AgusYudhoyono berujar “Never… Never… Never give up… Lari 17K di event King of The Road tadi pagi,” yang dipasang pada pukul 19.20. Tidak lama kemudian, dia melanjutkan kicaunya “Always finish what you have started ” dengan menyertakan fotonya sambil memamerkan medali finisher. Medali tersebut diberikan kepada peserta yang berhasil sampai garis akhir.

Yang membuatnya jadi bahan pergunjingan di media sosial justru karena dia terlambat datang. Beredar penuturan dari pengguna yang diduga panitia acara yang menjelaskan bahwa acara tersebut seharusnya digelar pukul 05.30 sampai pukul 08.30. Rombongan Agus dengan Pasukan Pengamanan Presiden (Paspampres) datang setelahnya.

“Terus minta ke race organizer-nya supaya signage serta gerbang start dan finish line, timing,dan lain-lain jangan diberesin dulu karena mereka mau lari 16,5 kilometer dan minta dapet medali,” demikian tulis seorang pengguna media sosial Path yang lantas menyebar lintas media sosial.

Dalam foto yang diunggah Agus, tampak dia mengenakan nomor bib 1010. Begitu dicek dalam situs resmi acara, tidak tampak nomornya dalam daftar pelari yang menyelesaikan maraton 16,8 kilometer. Begitu pula orang yang ada di sebelahnya dengan nomor 3450. Tentu saja hal ini akan terlihat janggal karena sebelumnya dia memamerkan medali finisher.

Sejak semalam, akun milik Agus jadi sasaran perundungan atau bully. Tweet-nya terkait partisipasi dalam event maraton tersebut dikomentari oleh beberapa akun Twitter milik pesohor, seperti Melanie Subono, Panji Pragiwaksono, dan Joko Anwar. Tidak hanya itu, muncul juga akun-akun yang berupaya membela Agus dan mengatakan bahwa keterlambatan rombongan sudah diketahui panitia.

Hingga pagi tadi, akun @AgusYudhoyono belum memberikan reaksi. Pengguna dengan akun @hwhardana pun berharap agar penjelasan segera muncul agar masalah bisa jelas. “Lets hear your side of story, kenapa mas agus telat ke kotr… Ditunggu ya…,” kicaunya.

Berdasarkan kegiatan yang diikuti Agus hari itu, ternyata pagi harinya dia mengikuti maraton 10 kilometer yang digelar dalam rangka ulang tahun ke-68 TNI di Monas dan dimulai pukul 06.30. Agus membawa serta komunitas lari Garuda.

Dari sana, Agus dan rombongan baru ke BSD City untuk mengikuti maraton KOTR 16,8 kilometer yang digelar Adidas dan ia datang terlambat