Posted: February 11, 2005

Athletics: The Greatest Race On Earth Reaches Its Climax In Hong Kong

At 08:00 local time on Sunday 27 February the final stage of the Greatest Race on Earth will start in Hong Kong, and with less than 7 minutes separating the top five teams competition for the US$400,000 first prize will be intense.

The Hong Kong stage of the Greatest Race on Earth series is known as the Harbour Race and is one of the world's toughest marathons - being uphill all the way. The start is on Nathan Road in historic Kowloon, and the course take competitors across the city, between skyscrapers, through bustling streets, over bridges, through a tunnel and onto a punishing five kilometre climb to the Finish at Golden Bauhinia Square on Hong Kong Island.

The current leaders in each category are as follows:

Main Team Challenge - 1st prize US$400,000

Team Name  Cumulative Time after 3 races (hrs:min:sec)  Time difference to leader (hrs:min:sec)
PACE Sports Management  06:53:52 00:00:00
Marathon Wizzards 06:58:17 00:04:25
Kenya National team 06:58:30 00:04:38

Of these top three teams the man with the fastest personal best is Kenya National Team runner Paul Bor with 02:11:45, next is Marathon Wizzards runner John Rotich with 02:12:05 and finally PACE Sports Management runner John Rono with 02:12:59. It really will be a fight right to the finish.

Nations Team Challenge - 1st prize US$70,000

Team Name Cumulative Time after 3 races (hrs:min:sec) Time difference to leader (hrs:min:sec)

 
Kenya 06:58:30 00:00:00
Zimbabwe 07:06:14 00:07:44
Zambia 07:22:28 00:23:58
Qatar 07:25:54 00:27:24
UK 07:36:34 00:38:04

In the Nations Challenge Kenya and Zimbabwe look very comfortable but in the race for 3rd place, Qatar should hold off a strong challenge from the UK and have a good chance of overtaking Zambia.

Individual Challenge - 1st prize US$100,000

Name Cumulative Time after 3 races (hrs:min:sec) Time difference to leader(hrs:min:sec)

Martin Longuran 06:55:55 00:00:00
Cleophas Rop 07:00:53 00:04:58
Stephen Ndungu 07:04:43 00:08:48

In the Individual Challenge there will be an intriguing tactical battle between Martin Longuran and training partner Cleophas Rop to win the US$100,000 first prize.

Other facts:
· Last Year Thomas Migwi won Hong Kong in a time of 02:17:17 and this year he runs for Team Posso 1 - currently in 15th position
· The athlete with the quickest personal best is Russian Dimitry Kapitanov with 02:09:32 running for The KRPR Team - currently in 13th position

· Professions:

o Botswana: Ndabili Bashineili - Sausage Maker
o UK: Darren Bilton - Hotel Owner
o Zambia: MacMillian Mwansa - Miner

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.

Standard Chartered is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is in the top 25 FTSE-100 companies, by market capitalisation.

It serves both Consumer and Wholesale Banking customers. Consumer Banking provides credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, deposit taking and wealth management services to individuals and small to medium sized enterprises. Wholesale Banking provides corporate and institutional clients with services in trade finance, cash management, lending, security services, foreign exchange, debt capital markets and corporate finance.

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.