Posted: January 5, 2005

Athletics: 31 Nationalities Represented in Mumbai Leg of Greatest Race on Earth

London, 5 January 2005:

65 Athletes from 4 continents will take part in the Mumbai marathon, the 'Historic marathon,' on the 16 January 2005. It is the 3rd leg of the Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth marathon challenge. The Greatest Race field is made up of 56 teams and 9 individuals.

Team BMMAC (A) will be looking to extend their lead of just over two and a half minutes in the Main Challenge as they chase the USD 400,000 first prize. They will face very stiff competition as nine of the teams occupying the first fourteen positions boast runners in Mumbai with personal bests of under 2 hours 12 minutes. Both Posso teams are using athletes with a proven pedigree, Joseph Kahugu (number 15 in the World rankings) running for 'Team Posso 1' was first in the 2003 Dubai Marathon (02:09:33, a course record) and Christopher Iseswe running for 'Team Posso 2' won the Belgrade Marathon earlier this year. Looking to go one place better than last year is 2004 Mumbai Marathon runner up, Julius Sugut, (number 39 in the World) representing Team New Line DK

In the Nations Challenge, hot favourites Kenya have a lead of almost nine minutes at the halfway point and with Wesley Chelulei running who has a personal best of 2 hours 10 minutes 14 seconds (almost five minutes quicker than any other Nations Challenge competitor in Mumbai) they will be confident of going to Hong Kong still in first place. Zimbabwe and surprise package Qatar will be chasing should any misfortune delay the Kenyans and host nation India will be hoping to move up from fourth place in to the money places.

Athletes in the Individual Challenge are preparing themselves for their third marathon in 12 weeks. After his 14th place finish in Singapore, Stephen Ndungu starts just 22 seconds behind rival Martin Longuran who finished 3 places behind him last time out.

The professional athletes are joined by an interesting mix of other professions in the Mumbai leg of the Greatest Race on Earth. Jean Pirogue running for Mauritius National team is a Painter by trade and Niaz Farooqi running for Pakistan National team is a Train Driver. But perhaps the athlete facing the greatest test is 18 year old Sameer Najib Sameer who has not only never run a marathon but also has never left the borders of Afghanistan and in Mumbai competes on behalf of the SCB Afghanistan Team.

Standings after Two Races: (Nairobi & Singapore)

 Team  Aggregate time Difference
MAIN TEAM CHALLENGE
BMMAC (A) 04:33:34
PACE Sports Management 04:36:13 00:02:39
I.S.A 04:36:28 00:02:54
 
NATIONS CHALLENGE
Kenya 04:39:03
Zimbabwe 04:47:56 00:08:53
Qatar 04:48:39 00:09:36
 
INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE
Martin Longuran 04:37:08
Stephen Ndungu 04:37:30 00:00:22
Cleophas Rop 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
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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.