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Thrilling climax to Greatest Race on Earth series as winners of US$1.5million prize pool are decided

Press Release
4 March 2007, Hong Kong
– Kenyan Steven Kamar  today won the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, taking his team Kericho to overall victory in the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) 2006/07 series and a US$400,000 first prize. In the final leg of the four-marathon team relay series, Kamar ran 2:17:03 to overturn a 44 second deficit on previous leaders Marathon Centre Kericho, lifting his team into first place with a cumulative time of 9:08:41.

 

GROE is a relay of four marathons in the cities of Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. The series sees athletes take on some of the world's most challenging running conditions – including altitude, heat, humidity and steep inclines. Athletes compete in teams of four, running one marathon each, working together to strive for the fastest cumulative time. The prize pool on offer, US$1.5 million, is the largest in world athletics.

 

Kamar said: “This victory has already changed my life. It was very close, I was just looking at Marathon Centre Kericho’s runner all the time - all I wanted to do was defeat him by more than 44 seconds.”

 

Paul Bor, brother of last year’s Hong Kong Marathon winner Simon Bor, distinguished himself with third place in the marathon today - finishing second in the Main Team Challenge and winning US$195,000 for his team Marathon Centre Kericho. Paul Bor in fact formed the team himself, using money he won as a member of last year’s Nations Challenge winners Kenya to fund the team’s travel and preparation. A solid team effort from Akaki runner Patrick Kimeli maintained their third position, assuring them a place on the podium and a US$125,000 prize.

 

Francis Bowen finished second in the marathon overall with a time of 2:17:19 to lift Team Gowar into a prize-winning position, from sixth to fourth place (US$75,000). Moses Arusei finished with a time of 2:22:18 for PACE Sports Management  to take the fifth and final prize for the Main Team Challenge (US$50,000).

 

Women’s Challenge winners Cyclone have dominated the competition since the first leg in Nairobi, breaking records along the way. Entering the Hong Kong leg, their runner Jane Ekimat already had a 19 minute lead ahead of nearest rivals Run for Peace who were being represented by Mary Ptikany. Cyclone won the US$100,000 first prize and a further bonus of US$20,000 for achieving a women’s series record of 10:22:27. Ekimat’s second place time of 2:39:33 was enough to convincingly hold first place for Cyclone. Rose Kerubo won the marathon with a time of 2:38:19, maintaining her team Grazy Girls’ third place in the Women’s Challenge, just 22 seconds behind second place. That position was clinched for Run for Peace by Mary Ptikany’s third place in the marathon with a time of 2:40:13.

 

Marathon winner Kerubo said: “I'm very happy. The race was very good, but it was difficult as the weather was very humid and the route was very hilly.”

 

The Nations Challenge was won by Kenya for the third year running, having faced close competition from local rivals Zimbabwe and Uganda throughout the series. In doing so, they became the first team to be awarded the 9 carat, 300 gram solid Gold Baton trophy which was introduced for this series and specially commissioned to be awarded to the winning national team. The Gold Baton will be engraved with Kenya’s name, and the team will also receive and keep a replica.  

 

Their final leg athlete Edward Kiprotich Muge was paced and supported throughout the marathon by team-mate Sammy Karanja, who ran for the team in the first leg in Nairobi and flew to Hong Kong especially for this purpose. An elated Karanja said after the race: “Whilst Nairobi is challenging because of the number of talented Kenyan competitors, this marathon is difficult because of the humidity and hills. We are very happy and honoured to win this competition.”

 

In the six regional competitions within the Nations Challenge, there were some exciting battles won and lost, with US$50,000 at stake in each region. In particular, in the South Asia region, Ajith Bandara’s time of 2:25:11 converted India’s deficit of nearly four minutes behind Sri Lanka into victory by a margin of just 14 seconds.

 

Bandara said: “I prepared well for this race for three months. The course was very good for 35km but after that there are many ups and downs on the road. Finally though, I came through it and did well for my team.” 

 

Similarly in Europe & Oceania, Denmark’s athlete Jeppe Farsoeht overcame a five minute disadvantage from Australia to claim victory by a mere 28 seconds.

 

Thailand were another team who came from behind, with a heroic performance from Boonchoo Jandacha clinching first place in the South East Asia region, and overcoming a 16 minute deficit to long-time leaders Indonesia. Jandacha said:

“Running solo requires personal effort but running as a team requires co-operation and encouraging each other to victory. I feel proud to be a part of this international race and I'm grateful to GROE for giving me a chance in this world class marathon series.”

 

And in other regions, Kenya (Africa), Taiwan (North East Asia) and Mexico (Americas) successfully defended their leads to claim victory. Hong Kong’s Lai Hok Yan ran a solid time of 2:37:01 for his team and said after the marathon: “The first and last races have the most pressure out of the four, and I got great support from the crowd being in my home city.”

 

In a new award for this year’s series, Mauritius became the first recipients of the Most Improved Nations Team Award, having beaten their 2005/06 cumulative time by 2:39:07.

 

 

Greatest Race on Earth Final Standings (provisional) – After Leg 4: Hong Kong Marathon

 

Main Team Challenge (open to all teams)

Position

Name

Team Name

Time (hrs:min:sec)

1.

Steven Loruo Kamar

Kericho

09:08:41

2

Paul Kiprono Bor

Marathon Centre Kericho

09:09:30

3.

Patrick Kimeli

Akaki

09:13:26

4.

Francis Bowen

Team Gowar

09:16:13

5.

Moses Arusei

PACE Sports Management

09:16:52

Women’s Challenge (open to all-women teams)

Position

Name

Team Name

Time (hrs:min:sec)

1.

Jane Ekimat

Cyclone

10:22:27

2

Mary Ptikany

Run For Peace

10:40:58

3.

Rose Kerubo

Grazy Girls

10:41:20

4.

Liu Min

China Team

11:03:23

5.

Nancy Jepkosgei Kiprop

Kensky Athletics Int'l 3

11:30:47

 

Nations Challenge (Open to National Associations only)

Position

Name

Nation

Time (hrs:min:sec)

1.

Edward Kiprotich Muge

Kenya

09:20:18

2

Phillip Bandawe

Zimbabwe

09:25:43

3.

Francis Yiga

Uganda

09:30:37

 

Nations Challenge – Regions

Position

Name

Nation

Time (hrs:min:sec)

Africa

1.

Edward Kiprotich Muge

Kenya

09:20:18

2

Phillip Bandawe

Zimbabwe

09:25:43

3.

Francis Yiga

Uganda

09:30:37

North East Asia

1.

Chieh-Wen Chiang

Taiwan

10:48:40

2

Chae Won, Seo

South Korea

11:14:16

3.

Lai Hok Yan

Hong Kong

11:53:59

Oceania & Europe

1.

Jeppe Farsoeht

Denmark

10:31:16

2

Scott Rantall

Australia

10:31:44

3.

Anssi Raittila

Finland

10:51:49

South East Asia

1.

Boonchoo Jandacha

Thailand

10:47:33

2

Jauhari Johan

Indonesia

10:59:01

3.

Bui Van Toan

Vietnam

11:03:45

South Asia

1.

Ajith Bandara

India

09:52:16

2

Kennady Chinna Ramu

Sri Lanka

09:52:30

Americas

1.

Jaime Portillo Romero

Mexico

11:00:19

2

Jose Luis Luna

Argentina

11:14:09

 

*For more on the series and results click here

-Ends-

 

NOTE TO EDITORS

 

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

 

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange 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 operates in many of the world's fastest-growing markets with an extensive global network of over 1,400 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 60,000 people, representing over 100 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 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 capability to offer a wide range of innovative products and services as well as award-winning solutions.

 

Trusted across its network for its standard of governance and corporate responsibility, Standard Chartered takes a long term view of the consequences of its actions to ensure that the Bank builds a sustainable business through social inclusion, environmental protection and good governance.

 

Standard Chartered is also committed to all its stakeholders by living its values in its approach towards managing its people, exceeding expectations of its customers, making a difference in communities and working with regulators.

 

For more information on Standard Chartered, please log on to www.standardchartered.com

 


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