FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cynthia Walley
011- 214 2409 /083 778 2742
Botshelo Kheletsane
011- 214 2404/ 082 842 5395
SA Athlete finishes fifth in World's Richest Race, Singapore
December 3, 2006
Champion marathon athlete, Riana van Niekerk, crossed the finish line in
Leg Two of the Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth in fifth position
earlier today (Sunday December 3), in a time of 2 hours 55 minutes and 45
seconds.
The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth is a tough, four-leg, relay
marathon being run in four countries over a five month period. It is being
contested by 80 teams drawn from 30 different countries and carries total
cash prizes of $1, 5 million.
Van Niekerk is in the South African women's team competing in the Women's
Team Challenge category that features total cash prizes of $200 000. The
winning team is calculated on the combined finishing times of the four
athletes. The South African team is also eligible for consideration in the
Performance Awards category with prizes totaling $55 000.
"Riana ran her own race. She was constant and steady. She ran a brilliant
tactical marathon," said her elated manager for the Greatest Race, the
legendary marathon athlete, Bruce Fordyce, speaking from Singapore.
"Riana was solid all round. She ran a great race."
"Some of her competitors sped off in the beginning and came unstuck when
the effects of the high humidity took effect. The conditions were hot,
humid and overcast…comparable to a 30 degree day in Durban in February," he
added.
Fellow Comrades gold medalist, Farwa Mentoor, ran the first leg of the
Greatest Race in Nairobi in October, completing that marathon in ninth
position.
The third and final legs of the Greatest Race will be contested by Louisa
Leballo in Mumbai on January 21 and by Gloria Baebo in Hong Kong on March
4. Both athletes are, like Riana van Niekerk, based in Pretoria.
Standard Chartered Bank, the creator and sponsor of the Race, is one of the
world's most international banks. The Bank has more than 50 000 employees
in 56 countries including South Africa.
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