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Mumbai set to stage marathon teams' latest battle
The third leg of The Greatest Race on Earth, the world's only marathon
team relay race, will be crucial in determining the winners of the
record $1.5 million prize pool
18 January 2007, Mumbai – The third leg of the Standard Chartered Greatest
Race on Earth (GROE) 2006/07, the Mumbai Marathon, is set to take place on
21 January, with another fine line-up of world class athletes. After the
first two stages in Nairobi and Singapore, the teams currently at the top
will be looking to their third leg runner to extend their advantage over
the chasing pack. With half the series already completed, the pressure is
on the athletes to record a quick time for their team in an effort to win a
share of the US$1.5 million prize pool, the highest in world athletics.
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 one marathon
each, working together to strive for the fastest cumulative time. The
series sees over 30 countries compete in what is becoming the ‘World Cup of
Marathons'.
In what has proved to be a particularly close series so far, there are less
than five minutes covering the top eight teams in the Main Team Challenge.
Currently in first place in the race for the US$400,000 top prize is
Marathon Centre Kericho, with a combined time so far of 4:35:55, just 53
seconds ahead of Posso Nyahururu.
There will be five athletes in the GROE line-up in Mumbai who have clocked
under 2 hours 10 minutes in their careers, all of whom will be looking to
push their teams into the top five prize-winning positions. The fastest in
the field is Ethiopian Gashaw Melese Asfaw, running for seventh-placed team
Akaki, who recorded his personal best of 2:08:03 in winning the Paris
Marathon last year.
Asfaw said: "Winning in Paris was reward for all the all the hard work and
sacrifice I put into preparing for marathons. Looking at some of the great
athletes who have already competed this year in GROE and their results, it
makes me proud, but also determined to do well. All the teams are still in
the hunt, so of course this will help push me to achieve a good time and
result."
Another winner in Europe last year was Kenyan Mandago David Kipkorir. He
ran a personal best of 2:08:38 to win the Rome Marathon, and most recently
managed a second place when he competed in Beijing in October. Kipkorir
will be competing for the second year running in Mumbai for his team Rosa e
Associati 2, and will be hoping to go one better than the second place he
achieved last year. On participating in GROE again, he said:
"It is a pleasure for me to be part, together with my friends, of this
emotional group of races. I will try my best to run to my full potential in
this marathon, not only for me but for all the team. Running in a team
requires a sense of responsibility. You have not only to think about your
own result, but to think about the group."
The strength of the all-women teams competing in the GROE Women's Challenge
has also been in strong evidence so far, with GROE runners filling the top
three places in both the Nairobi and Singapore Marathons. The Cyclone team
have a significant advantage over the chasing teams, with their two
athletes so far having smashed the course records in both marathons.
Jennifer Chesinon will take the baton on for them in Mumbai and hope to
extend their current lead of nine minutes over second-placed Grazy Girls.
Chesinon commented: "I have been training specifically for this race for
some time now and am on my way to peaking for Mumbai. I want to make the
podium there, but the most important thing is for my team to win. I enjoy
running for a team as it is a new experience, and change can also bring new
motivation."
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 are Uganda, who will be represented in Mumbai for the
second successive year by Alex Malinga. Last year he finished eighth in the
overall marathon, which followed an impressive sixth place in the 2005
World Championships Marathon in Helsinki in a personal best time of
2:12:12.
Malinga said: "We train together as a team and try to encourage each other,
pacing various options to create a competition-like environment. I have
taken part twice before in GROE and I believe the main attribute needed is
a high level of team-spirit. This is very important to achieving your
goals."
Reigning champions Kenya are in second place, having halved Uganda's lead
to two minutes in Singapore. Just half a minute behind, and completing the
African top three in the GROE Nations Challenge, are Zimbabwe. They will be
represented by Michael Ngaseke, who achieved his personal best time of
2:12:53 in the 2004 Berlin Marathon. Ngaseke is set on improving his time
in Mumbai last year of 2:16:10, when he finished seventh.
He said: "I am very pleased to be part of GROE as it gives me the
opportunity to represent my country, be part of a team and win substantial
prize money. My team-mates and I have been communicating with each other to
encourage each other, and I feel the pressure to not let them down. I am
hoping to enhance my chances of competing in the 2007 All Africa Games and
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games."
In fifth place in the Nations Challenge are home team India, just a minute
ahead of local rivals Sri Lanka. Running for India in Mumbai will be
Nathuram, who set his personal best of 2:24:43 in this marathon last year.
He said: "It was always my childhood dream to be the best in running in
India. In my youth, we would always be running around to catch our field
animals on the family farm! Ever since, I have strived to be first in
everything I do, my running included. GROE is the world's best marathon
relay and features some of the world's top athletes. We all train together
as a team, support one another and we are very dedicated. Working together
helps each of us to build on our personal strengths and improve on our
weaknesses."
There are six regional competitions within the Nations Challenge, each of
which has its own separate prize pool. Defending their leads heading into
the Mumbai Marathon will be: Indonesia in South East Asia; Taiwan in North
East Asia; Mexico in the Americas; Australia in Europe & Oceania; and
Uganda and India in Africa and South Asia respectively.
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