Posted: November 28, 2005

Athletics: World marathon stars set to do battle in Singapore

Teams looking to their star runners for a strong performance in the second leg of the Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth.

One of the all-time marathon greats, Joyce Chepchumba, will be among the stars competing in the second leg of the US$1.575 million Greatest Race on Earth (GROE), in Singapore on 4 December. In the past decade, Kenya’s Chepchumba has won both the London and Chicago Marathons twice, the Tokyo Marathon, the New York Marathon and was bronze medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The Greatest Race on Earth, a four-marathon relay in locations around the world, started in Nairobi in October and attracted twice the number of runners from last year. After the second leg in Singapore on 4 December, the event moves on to Mumbai on 15 January 2006 and climaxes in Hong Kong on 12 February. More than 150 elite runners from 35 different countries are competing in the event, which has been billed as the "World Cup of Marathon Running". Athletes will run some of the world's most difficult courses, battling altitude, heat, humidity and exhaustion in an effort to better last year's winning cumulative time of 09.11.31.

Competing for the "Run For Peace" women’s team, Chepchumba will join forces with former world record holder Tegla Loroupe, who is scheduled to run in Mumbai, to form a formidable squad. Chepchumba will face tough competition though from Ethiopia’s Gigi Asha Roba and Russia's Silvia Skvortsova, Alina Ivanova and Tatiana Titova. Their participation is evidence that the Greatest Race on Earth, now into its second year, is attracting the world’s best athletes. This year's race promises to be even bigger and more exciting than last year's, with a larger total prize pool of US$1.57 million, the largest in world athletics history.

Among the men, one of the favourites for the Singapore marathon will be Kenyan Joseph Ngolepus, of the "'Run for Peace Fun" team, who won last year's San Diego’s Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Challenging him will be Ethiopian Jote Ashebir Demissu, of the "'Akaki Demadonna" team, evidently in good shape after finishing third in the Hamburg Marathon earlier this year. Another to watch out for will be the highly-rated South African Makhosonke Fika, representing "Posso Men". All have personal best times of under two hours 10 minutes, and will be looking to claw back time on the leaders "Kenya Global Sports Communication". Their man Samson Barmao won comfortably in Nairobi, despite the extreme altitude and thin air, clocking an impressive 02:12:14.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the streets of Singapore on 4 December. As well as attracting some of the world’s best marathon runners, The Greatest Race on Earth is also helping to uncover young running talents who are competing on the international stage for the very first time. Many are expected to go on to challenge for World and Olympic honours in years to come.

The Singapore leg will also feature a series of fascinating battles between competing nations. British athlete Martin Dalkins will face strong competition from Australia’s Richard Gleisner, while Kenya’s Paul Kiprono Bor will take on Botswanan rival Ndabili Bashingili. Other nations set to field strong competitors include Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

In the race for the individual trophy, the action is set to hot up with several Kenyan athletes competing for the top prize of US$130,000. The leading contenders are Meshack Kirwa, Emmanuel Kosgei, Stephen Ndungu and Isaac Kimuge, with just two minutes separating the top four.

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

The four marathons that are part of the Greatest Race comprise:

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