This year is the fifth anniversary of The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE), the unique marathon team relay series created and sponsored by Standard Chartered, which encompasses four of the world’s most gruelling marathons – Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
Each year GROE transforms the traditionally individual sport of marathon running into a team event. The challenging team relay sees international men’s and women’s teams battling it out for a share of the US$ 1 million prize fund, one of the largest guaranteed prize pools in world athletics.
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 ‘highest race,’ at over 1,600m, in Nairobi – 26 October 2008
The ‘island race’ around Singapore – 7 December 2008
The ‘historic race’ through Mumbai – 18 January 2009
The ‘harbour race’ across Hong Kong – 8 February 2009
Partnership, teamwork, trust and courage, all of which are Standard Chartered core values, will be key factors in determining the winners.
Nations Challenge:
Some of the world’s quickest marathon athletes compete in teams of four, running one marathon each – with the singular goal of working together to achieve a faster cumulative time than their rivals and gaining a significant slice of the prize pool.
The 2008/09 series sees a total of 36 Nations Challenges taking part (23 men’s and 13 women’s teams). The Nations Challenges will be split into three regions – Africa, South Asia and North East Asia and Rest of The World. The fastest team in each of the three regions will win US$ 80,000, with US$ 50,000 for second place, and US $30,000 for third.
In addition to the above challenges Standard Chartered will be providing a series of financial prizes for the Performance and Most Improved Awards and there will be a special bonus for ‘Beating the Series Record’.
Standard Chartered Staff Challenge:
Staff teams from across Standard Chartered’s network will also compete in the relay series but over half marathon courses. The team with the lowest cumulative time after all four races will be crowned winners. Standard Chartered staff will run to raise awareness and funds for this year’s nominated race beneficiary Seeing is Believing.
Seeing is Believing (SiB):
Seeing is Believing (SiB) is a global initiative to help tackle avoidable blindness, and is a partnership between Standard Chartered Bank and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). IAPB is the leading umbrella organisation for NGOs working in the field of eye care. Together with the World Health Organisation, it launched the ‘Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight’, a global campaign to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020.
To date, Seeing is Believing has raised over US$ 17 million for blindness initiatives and plans to invest a further US$ 20 million by 2014. Seeing is Believing is the single largest contributor
to the development of Vision 2020 programmes through IAPB. Full details of SiB can be found at www.thegreatestrace.com
As part of the Seeing is Believing programme, Standard Chartered Bank pledges to match all donations until the target of US$ 20 million is reached.
Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
Standard Chartered PLC, listed on both London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, 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 profits 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 for its customers across its markets. The Bank derives more than 90 per cent of its operating income and profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, generated from its Wholesale and Consumer Banking businesses. The Group has around 1,750 branches and outlets located in over 70 countries. The extraordinary growth of its markets and businesses creates exciting and challenging international career opportunities.
Leading by example to be the right partner for its stakeholders, the Group 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. It employs 75,000 people, nearly half of whom are women. The Group's employees are of 115 nationalities, of which 60 are represented among senior management.
For more information, please visit: www.standardchartered.com .
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