Posted: October 7, 2004

Athletics: The Greatest Race On Earth Marathon Challenge

55 teams to compete for USD 1 million prize pool

Fifty-five teams - including some of the world's top marathon runners -- have registered for the inaugural Greatest Race on Earth, a challenging virtual relay race across four Standard Chartered Bank-sponsored marathons in Nairobi, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Each team consists of four runners with a team member running in one marathon each. Teams must nominate who will run in each full marathon before the start of the series, and the winning team will be the one whose athletes record the lowest aggregate time across the four marathons.

The Race will be hotly contested with 17 professional teams competing for the USD 400,000 1st prize in the main Team Challenge. The favourites - on paper - are the Rosa 1 team, with an aggregate personal best time of 8 hours 37 minutes and 14 seconds. They will be in with a great chance if they are still in contention when the Challenge reaches Hong Kong as they have Fred Kiprop, the winner of the 2004 Amsterdam Marathon and their fastest competitor on the last leg.

However, the challenging conditions at each of the marathon venues will probably ensure that the form book can be thrown out of the window. The elite runners will be jetting in from all over the globe to take part in the Greatest Race. Leonid Shetsov from Russia (13th in the 2004 Athens Olympics Marathon) will run in Singapore as part of the Abmayr team and will be joined by comrade Dimitry Kapitanvo and Waldemar Glinka from Poland.

An all-female elite team - sponsored by Standard Chartered - has also signed up for the main Team Challenge. They should be extremely competitive with the 2004 Hong Kong Marathon winner, Gitte Karlshoj from Denmark returning to the site of her triumph to anchor the team home.

While the current dominance of Kenyans in marathon running is reflected in the make up of many of the professional teams, the Nations Challenge boasts a line up of 21 teams who will be representing their countries. These teams will compete for a bonus prize pool of USD 145,000 and are also eligible for the main Team Challenge.

The entries come from all over the world, from Botswana to Brunei, and South Africa to South Korea. The favourites in this category will be the Kenyan National team who have a combined personal best time of 8 hours 46 minutes and 49 seconds. Other contenders for the Nations crown are likely to be the Australians, and the Indians. Many of the competitors in the Nations Challenge are not professional runners and have a variety of 'day jobs'. Michee Bhageea from Mauritius is a singer by trade and Pesta Hostain from Bangladesh is a Government Service Official.

Marathon World Record Holder, Paul Tergat commented, "The Greatest Race on Earth is an exciting new concept which brings a breath of fresh air into the World of marathon running. I love the fact that teamwork will be crucial to winning the competition. In marathon running, we are used to winning or losing on our own. As part of The Greatest Race you have to rely on three other guys to complete their marathons in good time as well."

In addition to the team competitions, there is also a USD 100,000 prize for the athlete who finishes first in the individual challenge. Super-human endurance levels will be required by the 22 individuals who have registered to participate in this category as they have to post a finishing time in each of the four Standard Chartered marathons.

Standard Chartered employees have also entered into the spirit of the event and will have 17 teams competing in The Greatest Race. They will be joined along the way by some well-known faces; Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the UK explorer who last year ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. Fiennes will return to the scene of his fourth marathon last year in Singapore. This time Fiennes will be running as part of the Runner's World team.

Taking part in the action at each of the marathons will be Henry Wanyoike, the visually impaired runner who is the ambassador of Standard Chartered's "Seeing is Believing" initiative to raise funds to restore sight to 1 million people around the world. With a personal best of 2:33:20, Wanyoike ranks among the fastest blind runners.

The Greatest Race starts with the Standard Chartered Marathon in Nairobi on 24 October. For up to date information on the race and competitors please consult the race website www.thegreatestrace.com.

The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth Marathons

Last year, over 70,000 people ran in Standard Chartered sponsored marathons in four major cities. In 2005, Standard Chartered Bank is proud to be title sponsor of marathons in six major cities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The marathons characterise the values and attitude that Standard Chartered believes in, and lives by everyday - a "can-do" attitude, a priority on strength of trust, willpower, stamina, and the determination to "go the distance".

This year, Standard Chartered presents The Greatest Race on Earth, a challenging virtual relay race across the Bank's four established marathons.

· In Nairobi on 24 October 2004
· In Singapore on 5 December 2004
· In Mumbai on 16 January 2005
· In Hong Kong on 27 February 2005

3 competition categories
Main (open to all):
Prize pool of USD 1 million prize pool - fastest combined time of four runners across all four events (one runner per team per race); top prize of USD 400,000; prizes to 15th place

Individual:
USD 100,000 Winner Takes all prize for fastest individual time across all four events

Nations:
Prize pool of USD 145,000 - fastest National Athletics Association-fielded team time of four runners in all four events (one runner per team per race); top prize of USD 70,000; prizes for the top three

Charity ties - including the Bank's own global initiative, 'Seeing is Believing' - means that every step raises money to help make a difference in people's lives. Henry Wanyoike, a blind distance runner and world record holder in the 10km for the visually impaired, will run in all four of the races. Standard Chartered will match public donations, up to USD 1,000 for every kilometre he runs to Seeing is Believing.

Standard Chartered - leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
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