Appachu Chinnapa, the Indian representative in the third leg of the 'Greatest Race on Earth' (GRE), a part of the Mumbai Marathon to be held in Mumbai on Sunday, is confident of finishing among the top three in the Nations' Challenge.
"After the first two legs at Nairobi (October 24, 2004) and Singapore (December 5) we [India] are placed a creditable fourth, seven minutes behind third placed Qatar, with the Kenyan national team and Zimbabwe in the first two places respectively," Chinnapa told reporters on Friday.
"If I can get a good start at the beginning of the marathon, there is no reason why we [Indians] cannot finish in the money bracket (the top three get cash awards) where a total of US $145,000, apart from US $400,000 as first prize, is up for grabs," the Karnataka lad added.
"The winner in this section, to be spotted at the Hong Kong Marathon on February 27, will pocket US $70,000," he said.
The Kenyans, who will be represented by Wesley Chelulei, are poised to win this leg. Chelulei, who has a personal best of two hours, ten minutes and 14 seconds (five minutes quicker than any runner in this category), is expected to do well against second placed Zimbabwe, who will be represented by Abel Chimukoko.
Athletes in the individual section, where a whopping US $100,000 would be given away for fastest time across all four events, will be keen to see how fancied Stephen Ndungu would shape up as he is just 22 seconds behind his arch-rival and Kenyan teammate Martin Longuran, who finished three places behind him at Singapore.
Meanwhile, in the main category, the fastest combined time of four runners across all four events (one runner per team per race) would get US $400,000. There will be prizes up to the 15th place.
In the main section, Kenya-based Bishop Muge Memorial Athletic Club (BMMAC) teams are likely to face stiff challenge from Posso teams, who are using athletes with a proven pedigree like Joseph Kahugu (world number 15) and Christopher Iseswe, winner of the Belgrade marathon earlier this year.
Looking to go one place better than last year is Julius Sugut, last year's runner-up and 39th in the world, who will represent Team New Link DK.
The professional athletes would be joined by an interesting mix from other professions in the Mumbai leg of the 'Greatest Race on Earth'.
Jean Pirogue, running for Mauritius National team, is a painter by profession while Niaz Farooqi, running for Pakistan, is a train driver.
However, the athlete facing the greatest test could perhaps be 18-year-old Sameer Najib Sameer of Afghanistan, who has not only never run a marathon but also has never left the borders of his country.
