29.10.2007

Nairobi down in Greatest Race

The first stop in the Greatest Race On Earth, the Nairobi Marathon, has been completed with Australia’s Chris Hills finishing 24th in the men’s Nations Challenge.

Hills, a late replacement for the injured Jarrod Shaw and with a personal best of 2:48:00, battled bravely in gruelling conditions at an altitude of around 1900m to finish “The Highest Race” in 3:04:05.

The 22 year-old was 176th in the field of 15,353, 43 minutes behind Kenya’s David Kikorir Ruto who finished in 2:21:05 and 11th overall.

Considering the task and his entry at short notice, Hills was “fairly happy that I got through from a tough day in the office.”

Kenya A leads the Nations Challenge from Uganda and Kenya B while in the women’s, China holds out from the two Kenyan teams after Lu Lu Li’s effort of 2:47:37.

The conditions in Kenya clearly affected Kate Seibold-Crosbie who toiled to meet the finish line in 4:34:24 (updated from earlier report).

Australia sits fourth in the Europe & Oceania group with Russia and Finland the respective men’s and women’s leaders after the first stage.

Next stop for the Greatest Race On Earth is Singapore - dubbed The Island Race - on December 2, with Jeremey Horne (PB: 2:24:46) and Tina Major (2:52:02) the Australians competing.

Then it’s on to Mumbai on January 20 (The Historic Race) with Todd Ingraham (2:23:00) and Helen Stanton (2:44:11) before finishing in Hong Kong on February 17 (The Harbour Race), in which Rowan Walker (2:20:25) and Lauren Shelley (2:33:42) will contest the fourth and final marathon.

The fastest aggregate time overall will share in a prize pool of US $1 million with individual spoils also up for grabs.

Find out more about the Greatest Race On Earth and its causes here