January 18th, 2011

Visually Impaired Goodwill Ambassador To Compete At The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon

Paralympics World Record Holder to inspire UAE youth

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 January 2011 – Standard Chartered announced today the participation of visually impaired Henry Wanyoike, world record holder of the 5,000 and 10,000 meters events at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Paralympics, in the 10K road race with his long-time running partner Joseph Kibunja this Friday (21st of January) at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2011. The duo are also participating as Goodwill Ambassadors for for ‘Seeing is Believing’ – Standard Chartered Bank’s global community programme aimed at helping 20 million people around 20 global cities to avoid preventable blindness.

Running while connected to Joseph by a tether on the wrist, Henry is completely dependent on Joseph to help him identify possible obstacles and challenges along the route without breaking stride.

Commenting on the participation of inspirational figures, Jeremy Parrish, CEO Standard Chartered UAE said:

“Henry and Joseph’s participation at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon is a celebration of partnership that demonstrates courage and trust. Their efforts truly embody the Bank’s values and support our aim to combat preventable blindness across developing markets. I would like to take this opportunity to wish them good luck at the race and hope their participation and visits will inspire UAE youth.”

In addition, as part of their inspirational tour, Henry and Joseph will be visiting schools in Dubai, and share running tips with their students. The duo will be accompanied by 62 year old Stuart Horsewood, a Standard Chartered Director who will be running his 103rd marathon and will hold motivational sessions where Henry will share his story of overcoming adversities while Joseph highlights how partnership is key to achieving the impossible dream.

Henry Wanyoike said, “Armed with courage and determination, we have been participating at most of the Standard Chartered Marathons globally since 2003 and we are really excited about the upcoming Dubai Marathon. We will continue our efforts to raise awareness about avoidable blindness and the ‘Seeing is Believing’ programme and are committed to share our story to inspire generations around the world.”

This year the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon is expecting registrations to surpass 14,000 participants. In addition to the full Marathon which is 42.195 meters long, there will be two additional categories which are the 3Km Fun Run and the 10 Km Road Race.