Posted: July 15, 2005

Athletics: Standard Chartered presents ‘The Greatest Race on Earth’

London 15th July 2005:

The world’s fastest runners will compete for a $1.4 million prize in a unique trans-global marathon called ‘The Greatest Race on Earth’.

The team relay comprises four challenging marathons in four exotic cities. A different competitor from each team will run in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. The team with the fastest cumulative time will be crowned champions.

There will also be an individual competition for runners strong enough to race 168 kilometres, from the start of the first race in October 2005 to the final leg in February 2006.

World marathon record holder Paul Tergat said the Greatest Race on Earth heralds a new dawn for running.

He said: “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 on Earth, you have to rely on three other guys to complete their marathons in good time. For the guys entering the individual category, they will need real endurance to complete four elite marathons in four months.”

More than 80 teams and 30 individuals are expected to compete, which is double the number of last year’s inaugural event. And competition will be fierce to better last year’s team record of 09.11.31 and winner Martin Longuran’s exceptional 09.20.11.

The event is sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank whose group director, Mike DeNoma, said it provided a forum for courage and determination.

He said: “We are looking to the next layer of runners that will be the stars of the future and we are giving them a chance that they would never have had before. It takes great teamwork, courage, determination and commitment to participate in a race like this.”

Find out more and register online at www.thegreatestrace.com.

The four marathons that are part of the Greatest Race:

Nairobi 23 October 2005
Singapore 4 December 2005
Mumbai 15 January 2006
Hong Kong 12 February 2006

Sports Feature - The Greatest Race on Earth

There is agony and ecstasy in each step. Marathon running is the supreme sport. An athlete’s every nerve and sinew is tested beyond conventional limits. Elite runners suffer like warriors in fight during 125 minutes of swift-footed racing to the line. Their lungs scream and their hearts pump at 200 beats every 60 seconds. They are alone; sporting Gods locked in a solitary duel between mind and body.

Further back, office workers, engineers, doctors, farmers and market traders compete against all odds. They endure hours upon hours of endurance and isolation. Courageously, they pursue the unimaginable goal of running 42 kilometres in the ultimate human race. Crossing the line brings pure, unadulterated joy and absolute exhaustion. For them, completing a marathon is the highest achievement. It is validation, a life-changing experience.

But there is a greater race. It involves a relay of four team marathons, in cities of breathtaking splendour for a prize of US $1.43 million. Forty two kilometres become 168. Racers do not seek personal glory; the presence of three team mates creates a higher goal. Willpower, strength of trust in fellow competitors and the determination to go the distance powers athletes home. The trans-global backdrop of exotic cities would present vistas of timeless beauty. This year, an estimated 500 runners from all nations will take part in such an event. With good reason, it is called The Greatest Race on Earth.

The inaugural Greatest Race on Earth in 2004/05 was swiftly endorsed by the marathon running community who said it breathed new life into an ancient sport. Paul Tergat, the world marathon record holder, said the lure of competing as part of a team was irresistible. “The Greatest Race on Earth is an exciting new concept,” he said. “You have to rely on three other guys to complete their marathons in good time as well. For the competitors entering the individual category, they need real endurance to complete four elite marathons in four months.” There were more than 260 participants, including 22 national teams and 19 individuals, in the inaugural race.

This year’s event will be more spectacular. There will be racers from Mozambique to England, from the United States to Spain. The four-marathon relay will be run across some of the driest, highest, most humid, most populous and fastest-growing regions in the world.

It will start at an altitude of 1,600 metres in Nairobi, Kenya, on October 23 2005, where the air is thin and the field highly competitive. The second leg will take place in Singapore on December 4 2005, where runners will battle to overcome extreme heat and humidity. The bustling city of Mumbai will provide an historic backdrop to the third leg on January 15. 2006

Finally, runners will jet out to Hong Kong for the final leg on February 12 2006. The course will be, technically demanding and uphill, with a 40% gradient at some points. The winners will bask in an achievement of improbable magnitude and share one of the richest prize pools in the history of athletics. David Sumukwo, a member of the inaugural event’s third-placed Marathon Wizzards Team, says the Greatest Race on Earth is a magnificent event “The heat, humidity and altitude of these races make the event unique,” he explains. “I was honoured to be a part of it.”

Africa is the home continent for supreme long distance runners and the Nairobi event will contain a host of big names. The city is Kenya's cosmopolitan, lively and pleasantly landscaped capital where urban African life flourishes. Nairobi grew with the advent of the railway and had become a substantial town by 1900. Today it is the hub of East Africa and is the largest city between Cairo and Johannesburg with a population of almost three million.

The uniqueness of The Greatest Race on Earth, which is created by Standard Chartered Bank, owes much to the introduction of the team ethic. Running as part of a team provides deep reserves of motivation for competitors. The well-chronicled loneliness of the long-distance runner is replaced by an intense drive to perform well for team mates. Just as soccer players are surrounded by ten team mates with one set goal so Greatest Race on Earth competitors find succour from their cohorts. Lucian Hombo, who ran for the Marathon Wizzards Team, explains: “Marathon running has historically been an individual effort but in The Greatest Race on Earth I was running for my team mates.”

Athletes need to work in tandem. Team coaches have to select the right runners for each leg and those runners need to produce a performance that reflects the position of their team. Consistent levels of performance are essential. Dave Buzza was a member of the UK National Team, who were the highest-placed non-African finishers. He says: “As a British runner running in Nairobi, I struggled with the altitude but the team made up time in Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong and it was brilliant finishing as the first non-African team.”

But, of course, the event conjures unlikely heroes who achieve superhuman feats. Last year’s winner Martin Longuran was catapulted from the ranks of athletics also-ran to international star. He came home in 09.20.11. After 168 kilometres, just 119 seconds separated him from second-placed athlete Cleophas Rop. That thinnest of margins was the difference between a winner-takes-all prize of $100,000 and nothing. Longuran was grateful for the opportunity to become an athlete of international standing. “The Greatest Race on Earth provided me with a great opportunity to show my talent on a world stage,” he said.

There are other incredible stories of athletes showing superhuman courage or remarkable invention. In Nairobi, one runner’s wife sold her family’s chickens so that her husband could afford to take part. Standard Chartered running hero Stuart Horsewood trained in his living room because it was unsafe to run outside. He adopted his usual training regimen in enclosed quarters, completed all four marathons, raised $45,000 for charity and won an international award for Dedication to Running presented by Runner’s World magazine.

Perhaps greatest stars were blind distance runner Henry Wanyoike and his running guide, Joseph Kibunja. The two overcame difficulties, remained positive, worked in partnership and Henry was recognised as one of six nominees for World Sportsman of the Year in the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards 2005. Henry lost his sight in 1995. He went to bed as usual after dinner on the last day of April. He woke up the following day totally blind and has never seen anything since that fateful day. The catastrophe would have had a devastating psychological effect on many people. But Henry has used it as motivation to win a Paralympic Gold Medal and set world records for visually-impaired athletes.

When at home in Kikuyu, Henry trains three times each day at the Alliance Boys High School grounds, alongside his current guide and age mate Joseph Kibunja. Occasionally, they change venue and train in the higher altitude tea and coffee plantations of Limru Division. Between sessions, he counsels the newly blind and their relatives at the neighbouring PCEA Kikuyu Hospital Eye Unit. “I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Standard Chartered Bank for what they have done for me over the last year,” he says. “They have given me new confidence to face my situation and exploit my potential.” He has realised this potential as a globe-trotting Goodwill Ambassador for Standard Chartered Bank’s Seeing Is Believing charity, which aims to raise funds for one million sight restorations.

The Greatest Race on Earth encourages runners of all abilities to overcome their limits. It sets a new high watermark for individuals in search of ultimate challenge and personal fulfilment. Its huge prize pool is broken down into world regions, so national associations from around the world can compete on an even playing field. Teams are divided into regions including Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, North East Asia, South Asia, Americas and Europe with Oceania. There are additional prizes for individual women and women’s teams.

Competitors are getting ready for the starter’s gun on October 23. It will be the most spectacular event in the marathon calendar. Athletes will face the sternest test of physique and resolve. The greatest running teams in the world will dig deep and show formidable skill in their quest for glory. There will be new heroes. There will be fantastic stories of triumphant people overcoming immense challenges. It will truly be, The Greatest Race on Earth.

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