(26/11/2006)

Kenyan Simon Bor will lead his national team to the second leg of the Standard Chartered's ‘Greatest Race on Earth’ (GROE) 2006/07 series, the Singapore Marathon, on December 3rd.

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.

Bor is the fastest amongst the six athletes in the GROE line-up in Singapore who have clocked under 2 hours 10 minutes in their careers, 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. 

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.

Searing heat

Runners will face the heat of Singapore in this second leg of the world’s only marathon team relay race.

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’. 

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.

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 – Leg 1: Nairobi Marathon Results

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.