Yomi Omogbeja (27/10/2006)

Top Kenyan stars are on course to retain the Nations Challenge title at ‘The Greatest Race on Earth’ 2006/07, as the Standard Chartered Marathon relay series return for its third year beginning this weekend with the Nairobi marathon.

This unique and truly international marathon relay series, dubbed the ‘World Cup of Marathons’, will this year see a record number of professional and national teams compete for a share of the US$1.5 million prize pool - the largest in the world of athletics.

According to the organisers, some of the world’s quickest marathon athletes will compete in teams of four, running in one marathon each they will work together to achieve the fastest cumulative time to win.

The current Nations Challenge holders Kenya have included the talented 27-year-old Sammy Karanja, coached by John Mwithiga (nicknamed ‘Warm-up’), in their team for Nairobi as they hope to retain their title.

Karanja trains in the Loi cho bour region, in the shadow of the Ngong Hills, literally following in footsteps of World record holder Paul Tergat.

He explains: "We’ve been training really hard for the past 12 weeks and I believe our team will work very well together.

"It’s my first time in the Nairobi marathon and I feel in excellent condition, I really want to win this leg of the race."

His coach Mwithiga added: “The location is ideal, it’s flat, with no car pollution and a soft surface, excellent for speed and endurance.

"Sammy has great potential and with an experienced support team around him he should be representing Kenya at the 2008 Olympics. The Greatest Race is a great challenge and valuable experience for young talent to prepare for this goal."

Varied challenges

All teams participating in Standard Chartered’s GROE will face many challenges along the way – as well as the high altitude of Nairobi on 29 October will be the humidity and heat in Singapore and Mumbai, on 3 December 2006 and 21 January 2007 respectively, and the uphill terrain in Hong Kong, the decisive final leg on 4 March 2007.

Partnership, teamwork, trust and courage, all of which are Standard Chartered core values, will be key factors in determining the winners.

In total 82 teams have entered to compete this year.  This includes 45 professional athlete teams who will set their sights on the US$400,000 prize for winning the Main Team Challenge, and 30 national teams sent by athletics associations around the world competing for the Nations Challenge.

Both of these are increases on the number of teams entered in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 series.  And the increased bonus pool on offer this series to all-women teams has seen the number of Women’s Challenge teams rise to 15, also a GROE record.

The Main Team Challenge looks set to be a close encounter, with a number of world class athletes named in the line-up for the series. 

Amongst the high-profile names recognisable to marathon fans around the world will be Usisivu Boniface, Simon Bor and Joseph Ngolepus, all sub-2:08 athletes, and for the women, Tegla Loroupe, Elana Meyer and Liu Min.

Gold Baton

Defending champions Kenya will be one of 30 teams competing in the Nations Challenge, with Mexico, Argentina, Tanzania and Sri Lanka all making their GROE debuts. 

As well as the first prize for the overall Nations Challenge, there is prize money on offer for the first three placed teams in each of seven regions.

A new and unique incentive has been introduced this year, as Nations Challenge teams will also be vying to bring home the GROE Gold Baton – a 9 carat, 300 gram, solid gold relay baton that has been specially commissioned for the Race. 

The baton will be presented to the winning team after the final leg of the GROE in Hong Kong on 4 March 2007.

Mike DeNoma, Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered, led by example in 2005/06 by completing all four GROE marathons.

He said: "Standard Chartered is proud to introduce the GROE Gold Baton for the 2006/07 Nations Challenge.

"The Gold Baton is a symbol of the teamwork required to win the race and a reflection of the high standards that GROE runners set in each marathon."

"GROE has now become a World Cup of Marathons with over 30 competing nations. The competition attracts high quality international athletes and, through teamwork, gives the opportunity for young talent to develop crucial race experience," he added.

Special awards

Standard Chartered has also introduced awards to recognise special achievements.

Amongst these is a US$15,000 award for the team who improves most on their 2005/06 cumulative time, and a US$20,000 pool to recognise those teams that overcome obstacles to complete the series.

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.