The tournament is a virtual relay race consisting of four individual marathon legs. Each race will be held in one of the most striking locations in the world.

The Athletic Association of Thailand is sending four marathon runners to test their mettle against the world's best in the gruelling races. The Thai quartet comprises Amnuay Tongmit, Kordeh Senmud, Supit Chantharat and Boonchu, who last year in Manila made history by becoming the first Thai to win a marathon gold in the SEA Games.

Amnuay will run the first leg in Nairobi, while Kordeh will participate in the next relay in Singapore on December 3.

After almost two months, the third leg will take place on January 21 in Bombay, where Supit Chantharat will represent the Kingdom.

The final leg will be the Harbour Race in Hong Kong on March 21, considered one of the most toughest marathons in the world. Boonchu, who clinched this year's Khon Kaen International Marathon, will run the difficult hilly route that has sapped the energies of some of the best in the business.

Last year the Thai team did a fairly good job of finishing second in the Nations' Regional Challenge category (South East Asia). The Thai foursome finished second to Indonesia.

The event this year has the largest prize pool in athletics with a share of US$1.5 million (Bt187 million) at stake and is expected to draw leading runners from all continents. The overall race is divided into three different categories: the Main Team Challenge, the Women's Team Challenge and the Nations' Challenge.

Waree Theptoranintra

The Nation