7 February 2006, London – The finish line is in sight for competitors in Standard Chartered’s The Greatest Race on Earth, a four-marathon relay race in locations around the world. Teams and individuals have run 126 kilometres and flown thousands of miles so far to compete in three of the world’s most exotic cities. Now they are getting ready for one last battle as they bid to win what has been dubbed the World Cup of Marathons.
A strong line-up has been announced for the fourth and final leg of the 2005/6 Series in Hong Kong on 12 February. With several teams and individuals separated by only the tightest of margins after the first three legs of the race, the Hong Kong Marathon will finally settle how the largest prize pool in world athletics, US$1.575 million, will be shared out.
Among the favourites in the Main Team Challenge will be the Kenyan Moses Masai, running for the current leading team, Run For Peace Fun. The in-form Masai won the 2005 Karstadt Ruhrmarathon in Germany in a personal best time 02:10:12. He looks set to do battle with compatriot Noah Bor, running for the Kapsabet-Gianni team. Bor, 28, has an impressive track record and recorded his personal best of 02:08:48 in Rome in 2003. Also near the front of the field should be Moges Taye of the Akaki–Gianni team, who represented Ethiopia in the 2000 Olympics and has a personal best of 2:09:19.
In the Women’s Challenge, current leaders Global Mbio – Women will be represented by Birra Tadelech, who with a PB of 2:31 will be confident of defending their 15 minute advantage over second placed Pema P Services. Tadelech should be wary though of Team China, currently in fifth place, whose athlete Dai Yanyan won in Hong Kong last year and beat her nearest challenger by an incredible ten minutes. With a personal best of 2:24, she will certainly be hard to beat in Hong Kong. Also one to watch will be the emerging talent of 20 year-old Ethiopian Dire Tune of the Haji Adilo Team, who are currently fourth. Last year, Tune competed in the IAAF World Championships marathon in Helsinki and recorded her PB of 2:30:48 in Los Angeles.
As well as attracting some of the world’s best marathon runners, The Greatest Race on Earth is also helping to uncover young running talents who are competing on the international stage for the very first time. Many are expected to go on to challenge for World and Olympic honours in years to come.
These young talents feature in the Nations Challenge, which includes 26 teams submitted by National Athletics Associations. An exciting showdown is expected between the top two teams, Kenya and Zimbabwe, who are currently a mere eight minutes apart. The Regional Challenges have created fascinating local rivalries between competing nations, and looking to defend their strong position in these will be India, Indonesia, Taiwan and UK.
The stakes are also high in the race for The Individual Challenge, where athletes run all four marathons in the series. Amazingly, after three races, the top two contenders, Meshack Kirwa and Emmanuel Kosgei, are separated by just 18 seconds. A nail-biting finish is undoubtedly in store to decide who will win the US$100,000 first prize.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the streets of Hong Kong on 12 February, bringing the city to a standstill. The Hong Kong Marathon was launched 10 years ago and has earned a reputation for being one of the toughest in the world. The cosmopolitan city’s harbour-side course is uphill most of the way. The course starts in the historic Kowloon district and takes runners between skyscrapers, over bridges, through a tunnel and onto a punishing five kilometre climb to the finishing line on the opposite side of the harbour.
The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth sees competing athletes run some of the world's most difficult courses, battling altitude, heat, humidity and exhaustion along the way. The Greatest Race 2005/6 Series has attracted 578 runners, twice the number from last year’s inaugural series. Each leg of the series has seen more than 120 runners from over 30 different countries compete. It all started in Nairobi in October 2005, moving on to Singapore in December 2005 and Mumbai last month, and will come to its conclusion in Hong Kong.
source GROE
