Ramadhani, Loroupe to lead field at StanChart Mumbai Marathon

Mumbai, Jan 12 (UNI) Commonwealth gold medallist Samson Ramadhani and former women's world record holder Tegla Loroupe will lead the men's and women's fields, respectively, at the fourth Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be held here on January 21.

Vivek B Singh, Joint Managing Director Procam International announced at a press conference here today that Tanzanian Ramadhani will add more glitter to the men's field consisting also of Gashaw Melese, Patrick Chumba and Stanley Leleito.

The women's category will see former record holder Tegla Loroupe of Kenya leading a strong field made up of the likes of Banuella Mrashani, Leila Amman and Jennifer Chesinon.

With the promoters Procam looking confident to see the course record being broken for the fourth year in a row, the Marathon is expected to create interest like never before. To show the seriousness with which the organizers are taking the Marathon they have called on board Dame Kelly Holmes as one of the brand Ambassadors for what is soon becoming one of the premier running events around the globe.

The double Olympic gold medallist from Great Britain will be joined by former cricketing superstar Arvinda D'silva of Sri Lanka and India Rugby team member and reputed actor Rahul Bose.

Among the Indian runners Ram Singh Yadav, Nathuram, Satya Prakash and Shivdan Singh will rub shoulders with the best in the men's category. While the women's filed will see Leelamma Alphonso and Reena Das looking to win the women's crown, he said.

Further enhancing the status of the Marathon will be 80 teams who will be representing their respective countries in the Standard Chartered's Greatest Race on Earth (GROE). Around 300 athletes will battle for the winners' trophy which is a Gold Baton along with a combined prize pool of 1.5 million dollar, he added.

The organizers have also instituted a competition for photographers where published photographs of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will be judged by a panel of esteemed judged and winners will be announced.

UNI