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World class athletes set for team effort in Singapore
Runners will face the heat of Singapore in the second leg of The Greatest
Race on Earth, the world's only marathon team relay race
24 November 2006, London – Another strong men's and women's line-up has
been announced for the second leg of The Standard Chartered Greatest Race
on Earth (GROE) 2006/07, the Singapore Marathon, which will take place on 3
December. With teams separated by the tightest of margins after the first
leg of the series in Nairobi last month, the marathon will be crucial in
determining how the largest prize pool in world athletics, US$1.5 million,
is ultimately shared.
GROE is a relay of four marathons in the cities of Nairobi, Singapore,
Mumbai and Hong Kong, and sees athletes take on some of the world's most
difficult running conditions - including altitude, heat, humidity and
punishing inclines. Athletes compete in teams of four, running in one
marathon each, working together to strive for the fastest cumulative time
needed to win. The series sees over 30 countries compete in what is
becoming the 'World Cup of Marathons'.
There will be six athletes in the GROE line-up in Singapore who have
clocked under 2 hours 10 minutes in their careers. With a personal best of
2:07:55, Kenyan Simon Bor is the fastest amongst them, and he will be
hoping to elevate his team Kericho from their current third place in the
race for the US$400,000 top prize. He has fond memories of GROE, having
won the Hong Kong Marathon earlier this year to lead the Kenya national
team to second place overall and first place in the Nations Challenge.
Bor said: "I have run some of the biggest marathons in the world but new
experiences like GROE are what keeps me interested and motivated as an
athlete. When you run alone you are using your ego. Here there is no ego,
only the team counts."
Bor will face stiff competition though from some of his fellow countrymen.
Joseph Ngolepus, 28, set his personal best of 2:07:57 in finishing third in
the London Marathon in 2003 and is fresh from winning the Madrid Marathon
earlier this year. He will be looking to extend his team Run For Fun's
current lead, established by his illustrious team-mate Christopher
Cheboiboch in Nairobi. Matthew Sigei, 23, of the Kaptagat team, with a
personal best of 2:09:17; and Stephen Ndungu, 29, of PACE Sports Management
and twice winner of the Los Angeles Marathon, will also be pushing hard.
Asked what makes GROE different, Ndungu said: "When the going gets tough,
regardless of your position, you know you have to keep pushing to keep your
team in contention for the prizes."
In addition last year's Singapore Marathon winner, Amos Matui, will be
looking to repeat his feat to push his team Marathon Centre Kericho up from
14th place; and the 2005 runner-up, Ethiopian Ashebir Demissu Jote
(personal best 2:09:14) will be determined to improve his team Akaki's
present standing of 25th.
The strength of the all-women teams competing in the GROE Women's Challenge
was in evidence in Nairobi, with GROE runners filling the top three places
in the overall marathon. Irene Jerotich, running for Cyclone, recorded the
fastest time ever on Kenyan soil of 2:32:46. Her team-mate Salina Jebet
Kosgei, 29, takes the baton on from her in Singapore. Kosgei is a former
winner of the Paris Marathon and finished an outstanding second in this
year's Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:23:22.
Kosgei said: "I think it is fascinating to take part in a series of
marathons held in such unique places. It is a relay where your team-mate
picks up where you left off, but in a completely different part of the
world. I will judge my result only at the end of series, based on how my
team does.
Second in the standings are China Team, who will be represented in
Singapore by 30 year-old Dai Yanyan (PB 2:24:41), who was the winner of the
2005 Hong Kong Marathon and is competing in her third series of GROE.
Yanyan will be looking to impress and push for a place in the China team in
the 2008 Olympics, but will also be wary of the threat of Russian Irina
Timofeyeva (PB 2:25:29), running for fourth-place Grazy Girls, who has won
previously in Tokyo, New Delhi, Singapore and Paris.
A specially-commissioned Gold Baton trophy – a 9 carat, 300 gram, solid
gold relay baton – awaits the winners of the Nations Challenge, which has
become a breeding ground for young marathon talent around the world.
Currently in the lead by four minutes are Uganda, who will be represented
in Singapore for the second successive year by 26 year-old army soldier
Joseph Nsubuga.
Nsubuga said: "The Greatest Race is a huge challenge but teamwork helps
you overcome this. Indeed the trophy we are aiming for, the Gold Baton,
shows the importance of teamwork to winning in GROE. I am honoured to be
representing my country again, although the pressure is on to maintain our
lead after our team-mate Moses Cherop did so well in Nairobi."
John Cheruiyot Mutai will be running for Kenya, the winners of the previous
two years' Nations Challenges. He said: "It feels wonderful to be part of
a team, training with each other and challenging each other to win. We
need discipline and good teamwork to succeed. I have never competed abroad
before so this is a big challenge for me, I hope to achieve a good time for
my team. I have been training hard during the daytime when it is very hot,
so that I will be prepared for the conditions in Singapore."
Completing an African top three in the Nations Challenge are Zimbabwe. Hot
on their tails from South Asia are India and less than a minute behind them
Sri Lanka, who both recorded excellent times in Nairobi and currently hold
fourth and fifth places.
Ajeet Singh, 22, running for India, said: "Self belief and the ability to
rise to the challenge are the qualities that I think are important for
GROE. Each marathon has different challenges and requirements, and I am
happy to say that so far in my career I have always been successful in
adapting."
Within the Nations Challenge are six regional competitions. The Europe &
Oceania group is particularly close, with just under ten minutes covering
the top six teams. Great Britain will be looking for an inspirational run
from late replacement and Olympian Mark Steinle, whose personal best time
of 2:09:17 in the 2002 London Marathon makes him the eighth fastest British
marathon runner of all time and the fourth fastest of the GROE field in
Singapore.
Defending their leads in the regional competitions will be: Indonesia in
South East Asia; Taiwan in North East Asia; Argentina in the Americas;
Ireland in Europe & Oceania; and Uganda and India in Africa and South Asia
respectively.
Find out more at 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. The Main Team Challenge category
is open to men and women over 18 years of age, of any nationality, with no
restriction on the level of competence. Each team member will run in one
marathon. Teams must nominate who will run in each full marathon before the
start of the series, and the winning team will be the one whose athletes
record the lowest aggregate time across the four marathons.
In 2005/06 the quality of the runners was world-class, with 24 male and 30
female GROE runners placing in the top 10 of each of the four marathons.
Building on the success of the first two series, Standard Chartered
presents GROE for the third time. There are over 80 teams and 300
participants taking part. 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 – 29 October 2006
* The island race around Singapore – 3 December 2006
* The historic race through Mumbai – 21 January 2007
* The harbour race across Hong Kong – 4 March 2007
The marathons characterise the values and attitude that Standard Chartered
believes in, and lives by every day. Partnership, teamwork, trust, courage,
willpower, the determination to "go the distance" and a "can-do" attitude,
all of which are Standard Chartered core values, will be key factors in
determining the winners.
3 overall categories
Main Team Challenge
Prize pool of US$845,000; fastest combined time of four runners across all
four marathons (one runner per team per race); top prize of US$400,000;
prizes to 5th place. Includes a bonus prize pool of US$200,000 for top five
women teams.
The Nations Challenge
Prize pool of US$400,000 – fastest National Athletics Association team time
of four runners across all four marathons (one runner per team per race);
top overall prize of US$50,000. Teams are also divided into 7 regions –
Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, North East Asia, Europe & Oceania,
Middle East and Americas, with prizes for teams who finish in top three in
each region.
Performance Awards
Bonus pool of US$55,000 has been set aside for special achievement awards.
These are awarded to national teams that have made a significant
improvement on their previous GROE times, and teams that have demonstrated
commitment, endeavour and determination in competing in and completing the
Greatest Race on Earth
Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
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Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is consistently ranked in the top 25 among
FTSE-100 companies by market capitalisation.
Standard Chartered has a history of over 150 years in banking and is in
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network of over 1,200 branches (including subsidiaries, associates and
joint ventures) in over 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South
Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas.
As one of the world's most international banks, Standard Chartered employs
almost 50,000 people, representing over 90 nationalities, worldwide. This
diversity lies at the heart of the Bank's values and supports the Bank's
growth as the world increasingly becomes one market.
With strong organic growth supported by strategic alliances and
acquisitions and driven by its strengths in the balance and diversity of
its business, products, geography and people, Standard Chartered is well
positioned in the emerging trade corridors of Asia, Africa and the Middle
East.
Standard Chartered uniquely derives over 90 per cent of profits from Asia,
Africa and the Middle East. Serving both Consumer and Wholesale Banking
customers worldwide, the Bank combines deep local knowledge with global
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