Posted: December 5, 2004

Athletics: Greatest Race on Earth runner smashes 20 year old record

Singapore, 5 December 2004:

The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon was won this morning by Greatest Race on Earth competitor Philip Tanui in a time of 2:17:02, breaking Swede Tommy Perrson's 20 year old record by nearly 1˝ minutes.

Meanwhile, Victor Mangusho who finished 3rd overall in the Singapore Marathon, in a time of 2:17:27, moved his team BMMAC into first place in the Greatest Race on Earth Series - Main Team Challenge

In the Nations Challenge Kenya look to be building a formidable lead, nearly 9 minutes ahead of next placed Zimbabwe and surprise challenger Qatar. But in the Individual Challenge, it is very close. Stephen Ndungu finished 14th in the Marathon just ahead of his rival Martin Longuran in 17th place. However, after a total of 84 km, Martin still leads on aggregate time by just 22 seconds as they head towards the next race in Mumbai in January 2005.

Provisional Leader Board

Runner in Singapore	Team	Aggregate time	Difference
Main Team Challenge
Victor Mangusho	BMMAC (A)	04:33:34
Joshua Bii	PACE Sports Management	04:36:13	00:02:39
Josphat Rop	I.S.A	04:36:28	00:02:54
Nations Challenge
Wilson Kipngetich	Kenya	04:39:03
Oliver Kandiero	Zimbabwe	04:47:56	00:08:53
Ali Abubaker Foaad	Qatar	04:48:39	00:09:36
Mahesh Singh	India	05:03:54	00:24:51
Individual Challenge
Martin Longuran	Individual	04:37:08
Stephen Ndungu	Individual	04:37:30	00:00:22
Cleophas Rop	Individual	04:40:37	00:03:29

For full results, go to www.thegreatestrace.com.

The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth Marathons

Last year, about 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
Standard Chartered employs 30,000 people in over 500 locations in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas. It is one of the world's most international banks, with a management team comprising 70 nationalities.
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Standard Chartered is well-established in growth markets and aims to be the right partner for its customers. The Bank combines deep local knowledge with global capability.
The Bank is trusted across its network for its standard of governance and its commitment to making a difference in the communities in which it operates.