HONG KONG, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China's women's Greatest Race on Earth team captured a thrilling victory in the North East Asia and Rest of The World category, when Yang Fengxia finished sixth overall in today's Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. The 21 year-old's time of 2:54:42 was just quick enough to snatch victory from Australia by 43 seconds and win the USD 80,000 first prize.
GROE is the leading international marathon relay series which sees men's and women's national teams of four runners competing at marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Each team member runs one of the marathons, with the winning team being the one with the quickest cumulative time.
Lulu Li got the series under way in Nairobi on 26 October, before Xue Wu competed in the Singapore leg on 7 December 2008, and then Liu Lijuan took over the baton in Mumbai on 18 January. The team finished with a cumulative time of 12:04:54.
Yang Fengxia said, "I am delighted that I managed to win first place for China in GROE and it was great to be part of the team. I knew that I was 40 seconds behind Australia going into the race so had to run my best to get first. I injured my legs last year in Hong Kong and have been recovering ever since so it was great to come back here and do so well."
In the men's category, China finished fifth after Qiang Liu completed the course in Hong Kong in 2:49:04 to give the team a cumulative time of 11:09:28 For the first time GROE has partnered with Seeing is Believing (SiB), the global initiative which tackles avoidable blindness.
To help raise awareness for the initiative, a Visually Impaired All-Stars team having been competing in the series and China's Paralympic marathon gold medallist Qi Shun brought the baton home for the team in Hong Kong.
Results
Women's Challenge North East Asia and ROTW
Position National Team Cumulative Times
(hrs:mins:secs)
1 China 12:04:54
2 Australia 12:05:37
3 Hong Kong 12:24:13
Men's Challenge North East Asia and ROTW
Position National Team Cumulative Times
(hrs:mins:secs)
1 Russia 10:02:28
2 Peru 10:05:51
3 Brazil 10:37:15
4 Taiwan 11:04:10
5 China 11:09:28
RACE FOOTAGE
Footage shot to broadcast standards and free of charge and no copyright restrictions, is available from World Television via the APTN Global Video Wire and via the media gallery at http://www.thegreatestrace.com .
APTN GLOBAL VIDEO WIRE TRANSMISSION (for broadcasters world wide)
DATE: Sunday 8th February 2009
TIME: 0915-0930 GMT
REPLAY
DATE: Sunday 8th February 2009
TIME: 1215-1230 GMT
If you experience any technical difficulties recording the feed please contact APTN MCR on: +44 (0) 20 7482 7676
For downloadable broadcast quality footage and still images please visit the media gallery at http://www.thegreatestrace.com
SHOTLIST:
1. Bars and tone
2. Count down clock
3. Establishing shots and athletes warming up before the start of The
Greatest Race on Earth Hong Kong Marathon at Granville Road, Hong
Kong.
4. Full coverage of The Greatest Race on Earth Hong Kong Marathon,
including:
-- The start of the race at Nathan Road, Hong Kong.
-- Coverage of the race along the streets of Hong Kong.
-- Athletes crossing the finish line at Victoria Park, Hong Kong.
5. Hong Kong Marathon male and female winner receiving their awards at
Victoria Park, Hong Kong.
6. I/V with Cyprian Kiogora Mwobi (Kenya), Male winner Hong Kong Full
Marathon 2009 and GROE Men Series Record Breaker: "The course is
very hard, not easy, very hard, people and the course. I will try to
make a good course record next year when I come back"
7. I/V with Winnie Frida Kwamboka Nyansikera (Kenya), Female winner Hong
Kong Full Marathon 2009
8. I/V with Liu Qiang (Male runner People's Republic of China)
9. I/V with Yang Fengxia (Female runner People's Republic of China)
10. I/V with Qi Shun, (People's Republic of China), VI All Stars Team and
Beijing 2008 Paralympics Gold Medallist
11. END OF B-ROLL
