Singapore, Dec 10, 2006 (ABN Newswire) - Another strong men's and women's line-up has been announced for the second leg of The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) 2006/07, the Singapore Marathon, which will take place on 3 December. With teams separated by the tightest of margins after the first leg of the series in Nairobi last month, the marathon will be crucial in determining how the largest prize pool in world athletics, US$1.5 million, is ultimately shared.

The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) was created in 2004 - the first-ever virtual relay race across four marathons. The Main Team Challenge category is open to men and women over 18 years of age, of any nationality, with no restriction on the level of competence. Each team member will run in one marathon. Teams must nominate who will run in each full marathon before the start of the series, and the winning team will be the one whose athletes record the lowest aggregate time across the four marathons.

In 2005/06 the quality of the runners was world-class, with 24 male and 30 female GROE runners placing in the top 10 of each of the four marathons.

Building on the success of the first two series, Standard Chartered presents GROE for the third time. There are over 80 teams and 300 participants taking part. The race covers marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong, representing some of the most challenging environments in the world:

- The highest race at over 1,600 metres in Nairobi - 29 October 2006
- The island race around Singapore - 3 December 2006
- The historic race through Mumbai - 21 January 2007
- The harbour race across Hong Kong - 4 March 2007

The marathons characterise the values and attitude that Standard Chartered believes in, and lives by every day. Partnership, teamwork, trust, courage, willpower, the determination to "go the distance" and a "can-do" attitude, all of which are Standard Chartered core values, will be key factors in determining the winners.