2008-02-17
Kenyans dominate Standard Chartered Greatest Race
on Earth with victories in Men's and Women's Nations Challenges

17 February 2008, Hong Kong - Kenya sealed a clean sweep of the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) 2007/08 marathon relay series titles in Hong Kong on Sunday morning. Both Kenya Men B and Kenya Women B teams successfully defended leads in their respective Nations Challenge competitions, after their final leg athletes were the first GROE athletes to cross the line in the Hong Kong Marathon. Cyprian Kiogara Mwobi and Anne Jepkemboi Kosgei completed the famously challenging course in impressive times of 2:18:03 and 2:41:09, giving their teams winning cumulative times of 9:09:16 and 10:49:09.

Kosgei said: "I found the race very tough but I enjoyed it. The people along the way cheered us on so we got all their support right from the start to the finish, which I was very grateful for. I am really happy for my team and my team-mates to have won this great event."

As well as clinching the US$100,000 first prizes, both teams also win US$40,000 for winning the Africa regional category, plus a bonus US$10,000 each as they clinched victory in series record times. The prize money will be shared between the four athletes that make up each team: the first leg athlete who competed in Nairobi; second leg athlete in Singapore; third leg athlete in Mumbai; and the final leg athlete in Hong Kong.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Kenyan men's team has won the Gold Baton trophy, and means they remain unbeaten since GROE began in 2004/05. Kenya Women B become the first winners of the Women's Nations Challenge, which was introduced at the start of the current 2007/08 series.

Kenya further confirmed their dominance of the series, with Kenya Men A and Kenya Women A teams both finishing second in their Nations Challenge competitions, 14m 59s and 46m 10s respectively behind their compatriots. Kenya Men A were a relatively comfortable 6m 31s ahead of Zimbabwe Men in third - who themselves moved up from fourth, overtaking Uganda. However, Kenya Women A were made to sweat when Monica Muthoni Njeru struggled in a time of 3:18:16, leaving them only 1m 56s ahead of China Women, who finished third overall.

Regional Challenges
In each of the Men's and Women's Regional Challenges, every team that was leading after the third leg in Mumbai successfully defended their advantages to win US$40,000. In an exciting finish to the South East Asia Men's Regional Challenge, Thailand athlete Boonchoo Jandacha's time of 2:31:35 was almost good enough to dislodge Vietnam from first place, but in the end they fell short by just 1m 09s. India runner Kennady Chinna Ramu increased their slim two-and-a-half minute lead over Sri Lanka to over six minutes to win the South Asia & Middle East Men's Challenge,.

The winners of the other Men's Regional Challenges are: Russia (Europe & Oceania); Peru (Americas); Chinese Taipei (North East Asia); and Kenya B (Africa).

The Women's Regional Challenge winners are: Finland (Europe & Oceania); China (North East Asia); Sri Lanka (South Asia & Middle East); Thailand (South East Asia); USA (Americas); and Kenya B (Africa).

Most Improved Team & Special Achievement Award
The Argentina Men team secured the GROE Most Improved Team award and prize money of US$10,000, after final leg athlete Jose Luis Luna's time of 2:28:33 gave his team a cumulative time of 10:19:53, which amounted to a 54m 16s improvement on their 2006/07 series time.

The GROE Special Achievement Award was presented jointly to the Sri Lanka Men's and Women's teams. This unique award, with accompanying US$10,000 prize money, recognises teams who have gone through significant personal barriers to complete the series. For much of the last 20 years, Sri Lanka has suffered fighting between the armed forces of the predominantly Sinhalese government and Tamil Tiger rebels who want an independent homeland in the north and east. The Sri Lanka Men's Team are all members of the Armed forces, and two members of the Sri Lanka Women's Team are from the Sri Lankan Navy and the Police force - all are involved in the conflict. Embodying the hope of Sri Lanka for the future, the Men's team consists of both Sinhalese and Tamil runners - both sides of the conflict coming together to run successfully as a team. In their South Asia and Middle East region, Sri Lanka Men's team finished second, whilst the Sri Lanka Women's team came in first.

Greatest Race on Earth Results (provisional) - after Leg 4: Hong Kong Marathon

Men's Nations Challenge - Overall top 3

Women's Nations Challenge - Overall top 3

Men's Nations Challenge - Regions

Women's Nations Challenge - Regions

Notes to Editors:
Standard Chartered presents The Greatest Race on Earth
The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) is the world's only marathon team relay series, run across four of the most exotic cities on the planet. Created and sponsored by Standard Chartered since 2004, it is now entering its fourth successful series, with prize money of USD 1.08 million on offer to the teams taking part - the largest guaranteed prize pool in world athletics.

Each year GROE transforms the traditionally individual sport of marathon-running into a team event. Some of the world's quickest marathon athletes compete in teams of four, running one marathon each - their eyes firmly set on working together to achieve a faster cumulative time than their rivals and gaining a significant slice of the prize pool.

The 2007/08 series sees the competition concentrate for the first time solely on the Nations Challenge, purely for teams representing their country. With a record number of teams taking part from over 30 countries, GROE has become the closest thing to a World Cup of Marathons. The Nations Challenge is split into a men's and women's competition, with equal prize money for each.

Competitors will face some of the most challenging environments in the world - including the high altitude of Nairobi, the humidity in Singapore, the heat of Mumbai and the uphill terrain in Hong Kong.

The Greatest Race on Earth: Race For a Living Planet - The Environment Challenge
The Environment Challenge is a new element of GROE introduced for the 2007/08series. It encourages people to select and undertake up to eight environmental pledges suggested on www.thegreatestrace.com, and then nominate the GROE nation they wish their pledge(s) to support. Standard Chartered, working in partnership with WWF, will donate USD 1 million to support vital environmental conservation projects that will benefit the three nations that generate the most environmental pledges per capita. The nation that attracts the highest number of environmental pledges per capita will receive USD 500,000; the second highest will receive USD 350,000; and the third highest receives USD 150,000. The results will be announced following the final GROE Marathon in Hong Kong on Monday 18 February 2008.

Once the top three countries have been identified at the completion of GROE on 17 February 2008, Standard Chartered will work with WWF, its Environment Challenge partner, to identify a shortlist of projects that require funding in those countries. Either a project within the winning country at the time of the award, or a project that has a resonance or direct affect on that country will be considered and selected by Standard Chartered.

The Pledges
Standard Chartered has introduced the Environment Challenge as a key component of its global sustainability strategy and approach to the environment. By adding the Environment Challenge to the Greatest Race on Earth, Standard Chartered are asking employees, customers and the public to consider the simple steps they can make to help reduce the long term effects of air pollution and climate change, deforestation as well as land and freshwater degradation.

These aspects, along with a separate Education (Learn More) theme, make up the four key themes of the campaign. Each theme will have two pledges associated with it, for people to select and commit to. They are:

Water

The Standard Chartered Carbon Calculator
Developed by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, along with website design company Factonomy, the Carbon Calculator can be used to quantify the C02 emissions from the user's household and travel activities.

Hosted on www.thegreatestrace.com, this unique and powerful carbon calculator is able to quantify the carbon footprint (C02 emissions) of households across the more than 50 countries that make up the Standard Chartered network. The sophistication of the calculator makes it one of the first of its kind, giving people the chance to identify their ‘personal carbon footprint' using measures relevant to their country.

Standard Chartered - leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
Standard Chartered PLC, listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, ranks among the top 25 companies in the FTSE-100 by market capitalisation. The London-headquartered group has operated for over 150 years in some of the world's most dynamic markets, leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its income and the number of employees have more than doubled over the last five years primarily as a result of organic growth and supplemented by acquisitions.

Standard Chartered aspires to be the best international bank in its markets by being the right partner for its stakeholders and leading by example. The group now employs over 60,000 people, representing some 100 nationalities, in more than 1,400 branches located in over 50 countries. The bank generates more than 90 per cent of its profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, with balanced income derived from both Wholesale and Consumer Banking.

Standard Chartered is committed to building a sustainable business over the long term and is trusted worldwide for upholding high standards of corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental protection and employee diversity. For more information, please visit: www.standardchartered.com.

WWF