FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 25 October 2007
The Greatest Race on Earth 2007/08 marathon relay series to inspire and engage environmental responsibility on global scale
Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, 25 October 2007 – Standard Chartered has revamped the fourth series of The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) to focus more on the national team competition. In addition, a new initiative to engage the public as well as the runners called The Environment Challenge has also been introduced for this year’s series. Along with the USD 1.08 million prize pool on offer to the national teams themselves, participating GROE countries now also stand to benefit from an additional USD 1 million as part of the Environment Challenge.
The fourth series of Standard Chartered’s Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) will kick off in Nairobi , Kenya , on 28 October with a new-look competition structure, and mark the start of a new environment initiative to engage people around the world.
The marathon relay aspect of GROE is now focused completely on the Nations Challenge, where up to four teams (two Men’s and two Women’s) can be entered by any country. This year, the overall Nations Challenge prize pool has been increased to US$1.08million. This remains the largest guaranteed prize pool in the athletics world to date. The overall winners of the Men’s and Women’s Nations Challenges will take away USD 100,000 each, as well as the coveted Gold Baton – a 9 carat solid gold relay baton that has come to symbolise the teamwork needed to win this challenging team marathon relay series. USD 840,000 will then be shared among the top three Men’s and Women’s teams from the six regions of; Europe & Oceania, Africa, South East Asia, North East Asia, Americas, and South Asia & Middle East.
The new Environment Challenge 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, will donate USD 1 million to support vital environmental conservation projects, working in partnership with WWF, that will benefit the three nations that generate the most environmental pledges per capita. The results will be announced following the final GROE Marathon in Hong Kong on Monday 18th February 2008.
GROE, coined the ‘World Cup of Marathons’, has grown to become a truly international event fielding a breadth of elite athletes. With the arrival of the new series format and the Environment Challenge, a record number of national teams are participating, with 54 from 34 countries signing up. New countries include the USA , Brazil , Peru , Germany , Lebanon , Japan and Russia .
To promote Malaysian sporting talent internationally, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia is sponsoring four of its staff to participate in The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE). All the Malaysian representatives will be participating in the half marathon challenge (21km). They are Neduncheven Varaden (personal best time of 01:50), Peterson Iruthayanathan (personal best time of 01:50), Karunanidhy Chengodan (personal best time of 02:00), and Thong Thiam Seng (personal best time of 02:05).
Peter Sands, Standard Chartered Group Chief Executive, said:
“With 34 nations now competing, The Greatest Race on Earth provides a compelling opportunity to reach out to people across the world. Through our sponsorship of the unique marathons in Kenya , Mumbai , Singapore and Hong Kong , Standard Chartered is focused on building awareness of the environmental challenges many nations face. If we can encourage the people we meet through our everyday business to make just a small change to they way they live, we can show how everyone, together, can truly help build a more sustainable future.”
Mike DeNoma, Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered, said:
“The worldwide appeal and teamwork ethic make GROE an ideal platform to communicate to a global audience. We hope hundreds of thousands, or even millions will pledge for their team, their country and ultimately, for a sustainable living planet.”
Dax Lovegrove, Head of Business and Industry relations at WWF-UK, said:
"This is a great opportunity to encourage people across the globe to take steps to reduce their impact on the environment. We are also keen to work with Standard Chartered to help them to manage their environmental and social impact through better investment practices, lending policies and its advisory services. We also hope that by setting an example of leadership this will help encourage the whole banking sector to move towards sustainable finance."
Anyone who makes a pledge as part of the ‘Greatest Race on Earth: Race for a Living Planet’ can upload a personal photo, to be woven into the GROE World Mosaic, symbolising how everyone can all contribute in our daily lives as part of one planet.
Please visit http://www.thegreatestraceonearth.com to make your pledge and support a team online.
- End –
For more information, please contact:
Zaiton Hj-Idrus, Head, Corporate Affairs Malaysia +6 03 2781 7209
Zaiton.Hj-Idrus@my.standardchartered.com
Fazuliana Wari Dali, Manager, Corporate Affairs Malaysia +6 03 2781 7230
Bt.Fazuliana@my.standardchartered.com
Labels: running
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