05.02.2009

Australians aim for Greatest Race

The Greatest Race on Earth 2008/09 is set to reach a thrilling climax this weekend with the fourth and final leg of the gruelling series to be staged at the Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday.

Having tackled three of the world’s toughest marathons in Nairobi, Singapore and Mumbai over the past three months, competition between the Nation’s Challenge teams will be intense as they battle it out for a share of the US$1 million prize pool.

Celebrating its fifth series, the Greatest Race On Earth features international teams of four runners with each member taking on one of the marathon events. The winning teams will be the ones with the fastest cumulative times.

Reflecting the global make-up of the race, the men’s and women’s Nations Challenges are split into three regions – Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and North East Asia and the Rest of the World.

While Kenya are dominating the men’s and women’s Africa categories, the women’s North East Asia and Rest of the World division is set for a gripping conclusion, with long-time leaders Australia holding a slim 40-second advantage over second-placed China. The equivalent men’s division is also on course for a tight finish, with Russia just 6 minutes 41 seconds ahead of Peru.

For the Australian women's contingent the series will be brought home by Billinda Schipp, who will tackle the fourth and final Hong Kong leg hoping to hold off all rivals and claim the international event.

Good runs from June Petrie in Nairobi, Helen Stanton (Singapore) and Kate Seibold-Crosbie (Mumbai) have the women in strong contention for the major prize, but the ultimate result is set to go right down to the wire when Schipp lines up this weekend.

Elsewhere, the Indian men take a commanding lead of 35 minutes 13 seconds into the final leg over Thailand in the South and Southeast Asia region. But the Thai team will face fierce competition for second place from Sri Lanka, who are just 2 minutes 2 seconds further behind.

Full race details can be found here.