She said at the launch of the fourth series of the race on Monday that over 30 countries were represented in the last edition. Over 34 countries will be represented in the fourth series. "Each year more than 80,000 participated in the Standard Chartered-sponsored marathons. This is a totally unique event in all respects. The media coverage has similarly grown with traditional media and video news coverage increasing to date from 2004 by 47 percent across the world," she said. She added that the race has helped the bank to tell its great story to partners, customers and the community at large.
She praised the Botswana athletes for a sterling performance as the country finished fourth in the last two series. "We are capable of outdoing ourselves and causing uproar, much the same as Glody Dube did years ago. Botswana is now visible in the international scene," she said. She revealed that this year's series are essentially in the same format as last year but with two notable exceptions. The main team challenge has been removed with more focus placed on nations challenge for men and women while an environmental challenge has been introduced. Leburu stated that the nations challenge team that records the most improved cumulative time compared to the last series wins $10,000. There is a prize pool of $20,000 available to teams that break either the men's or women's cumulative record. Another $10,000 will be given to the team deemed to deserve a special achievement award.
