Yomi Omogbeja (30/10/2006)

Kenya's Irene Cherotich has recorded the fastest time ever on Kenyan soil to win the Standard Chartered's Nairobi Marathon leg of ‘The Greatest Race on Earth’ (GROE) 2006/07 series.

The victory puts her team 'Cyclone' into the lead of the GROE Women’s Challenge at the end of the first of four marathons, after she knocked over three minutes off the existing record in a time of 2:32:46.

Another GROE runner, China Team’s 19 year-old  Zhang Xin, came second with a time of 2:37:34 in her first ever Nairobi Marathon, and elevates her prospects as an emerging talent for China in the 2008 Olympics.

Former Paris and Turin marathon winner Beatrice Omwanza, of the 'Run for Peace' team, came third with a time of 2:39:15.

Kenyan Christopher Cheboiboch was the highest-placed male athlete with a time of 2:14:59, taking fifth place in the overall marathon.  This takes his 'Run for Fun' team into the lead of the GROE Main Team Challenge.

Erastus Thumbi running for Posso Nyahururu was second in 2:15:24, with only one second separating him from Lisoreng Philmon of Kericho team.

This unique and truly international marathon relay series, dubbed the ‘World Cup of Marathons’, saw 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.

The field of elite athletes and emerging talent sped away from the start-line at 7.45am along the Mombasa Road, all battling the 1,600m altitude.

See also: Kenyan stars set for ‘The Greatest Race'

Regional leaders

The new series sees participation from over 30 countries.  The GROE Nations Challenge saw Uganda shine, as Moses Cherop stormed through the course to finish with a time of 2:18:26, a creditable 4 minutes 16 seconds ahead of current holders Kenya who are third.

Uganda now lead also the Africa regional competition with Kenya second and Zimbabwe third, finishing with a time of 2:23.39.  The six regional competitions within the Nations Challenge look set to be very exciting in this year’s series. Vietnam leads Indonesia by 12 minutes 40 seconds with Indonesia running a 2:35.19 race in the South East Asia category. Amnuay Tongmit from Thailand was third with a time of 2:43:07.

In the North East Asia region, Taiwan are leading with a time of 2:45:40, whilst the South Korea team are in second place over 11 minutes behind and Hong Kong are in third place.

India leads the South Asia region with national representative Lyngkhoi Bining completing the course in 2:25:24. Close rivals Sri Lanka are second with 2:26:18 and Pakistan are third with a time of 2:41:30.   

The Oceania and Europe region is lead by Ireland. Cathal O’Connell ran 2:37:53, 3 minutes 49 seconds ahead of Australia with 2:42:42 and Denmark who are placed third.

In the Americas, a new addition to GROE this series, Argentina lead with a time of 2:34:07, almost ten minutes ahead of Mexico.

More than 16,000 runners participated in this year's Nairobi marathon, a significant rise from the attendance of 12,000 in 2005.

The consistent growth in the popularity of the marathon since its inception in 2003 was mirrored by the thousands of spectators that lined the new route, and is strong testament to the passion and popularity of long distance running in Kenya. 

Greatest Race on Earth Results (provisional) – Leg 1: Nairobi Marathon

Main Team Challenge (open to all teams)

Women’s Challenge

Nations Challenge (Open to National Associations only)

Nations Challenge – Regions

Increased bonus

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.