Posted: January 19, 2006

Athletics: Marathon Series fast becoming The World Cup of Marathons

LONDON, 19 JANUARY 2006 - Stanley Leleito put the Kenya National Team on top of the Nations Challenge on Sunday with an outstanding run in the third leg of the US$1.575 million Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth in Mumbai. The 21 year-old rising star defied the heat to finish in a time of 2:12:47, beating last year’s course record in the process. Kenya started the race in second place overall, but Leleito’s run now puts them just under nine minutes ahead of Zimbabwe.

Said Leleito of his race: “It was a difficult race because it's the first time I have run in Asia and it is a hard course. I am happy because I have improved my team placing, I ran very well.”

The 2005/06 Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth is a relay of four challenging marathons across four cities around the world. It started in Nairobi in October 2005 then moved to Singapore in December 2005. The finale will be in Hong Kong on 12 February 2006.

More than 125 runners from 30 different countries ran in Mumbai as part of The Greatest Race on Earth, which is fast becoming "The World Cup of Marathons". The high profile line-up attracted by The Greatest Race on Earth 2005/6 Series has been reflected by faster times in all three marathons so far, compared to last Series.

The first non-African home was UK‘s Toby Lambert in a time of 2:24:39, putting the UK National Team team sixth overall in the Nations Challenge, and first in the Europe & Oceania Regional Challenge, 21 minutes ahead of Switzerland. “The Greatest Race is special because, although you go to each marathon on your own, you feel like your team mates are there with you. You keep going for their sake – and it’s paying off,” Lambert said.

In the South East Asia Regional Challenge, Indonesia continues to be runaway leaders after a excellent run by Yahuza. In the North East Asia Regional Challenge, despite an outstanding effort from South Korean runner Im Kyung Nam, who ran 2:30:45, Taiwan are still the comfortable leaders. And in the South Asia Challenge, home team India maintained their dominance with another consistent run, this time from Satya Prakash in 2:32:59.

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon was flagged off by the Maharashtra State Governor and a number of Standard Chartered Group Executive Directors, at 8am on Sunday morning. Tens of thousands of people lined the dusty streets to cheer the 27,500 runners who took part in the marathon, bringing the city to a standstill.

Winning the Mumbai Marathon (women’s) for the second year in succession was Greatest Race on Earth athlete Mulu Seboka, who clocked a course record time of 2:33:15, increasing the lead of her Global Mbio team to over fifteen minutes overall in the Women’s Team Challenge. Running for the first time in Mumbai, Team China’s Zhang Xin ran a creditable 2:45:26, and this youngster is certainly one to watch for Beijing in 2008. “It was very difficult and hot but I am pleased with myself and proud to have done well for my country,” she commented.

In the Main Team Challenge, the Run For Peace Fun team have established a strong lead in the race for the US$400,000 first prize. However, just five seconds separate the teams Akaki-Gianni and BMMAC(A) from the second prize of US$195,000.

Also tight is the Individual Challenge, in which athletes run all four marathons in the Series. Meshack Kirwa and Emmanuel Kosgei head into Hong Kong with just 18 seconds between them, the top prize being US$100,000. Kirwa, who finished on Sunday in a personal best time of 2:14:44, said, “I thank God and the organisers for a good race. I have four weeks now until Hong Kong and I am looking forward to it.”

The Greatest Race promotes “Seeing is Believing”, through which Standard Chartered has committed to raise US$6 million before the end of 2006. This money will help restore the sight of one million people in developing nations with visual impairment. In this spirit, two visually-impaired teams, from Taiwan and South Korea, took part in and finished the race.

Fore complete results and standings visit: www.thegreatestrace.com.

The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth

The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) was created in 2004 – the first-ever virtual relay race across four marathons. There were over 260 participants, including 22 national teams and 19 individuals who entered the race. The quality of the runners was world-class, with 24 GROE runners placing in the top 10 of each of the four marathons.

Building on the success of the first year, Standard Chartered presents GROE for the second time, attracting double the number of participants from the first Series. The race covers marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong, representing some of the most challenging environments in the world:

• The highest race at over 1,600 metres in Nairobi – 23 October 2005
• The island race around Singapore – 4 December 2005
• The historic race through Mumbai – 15 January 2006
• The harbour race across Hong Kong – 12 February 2006

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”.

3 overall categories
Main Team Challenge Prize pool of USD 1,125,000; fastest combined time of four runners across all four marathons (one runner per team per race); top prize of USD 400,000; prizes to 10th place. Includes a bonus prize pool of USD175,000 for top three women teams.
Nations Challenge Prize pool of USD 320,000 – fastest National Athletics Association team time of four runners across all four marathons (one runner per team per race); top overall prize of USD 70,000. Teams are also divided into regions – Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, North East Asia, Europe & Oceania, Middle East and Americas, with a prize pool for teams who finish in top three in each region.
Individual Challenge Prize pool of USD 130,000; fastest aggregate time of one individual runner to run all four marathons; prizes for top three places.

Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
Standard Chartered is one of the world's most international banks, employing over 40,000 people, representing 80 nationalities, across its network. Standard Chartered operates in over 1,200 locations (including subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures) in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas.

Standard Chartered PLC 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, securities 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 corporate responsibility as well as its commitment to making a difference in the communities in which it operates.

For further information on Standard Chartered Bank, please log into: www.standardchartered.com.

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