Cathal O’Connell of Cork has given Ireland almost a 4 minute lead in the Europe & Oceania division of the Greatest Race on Earth marathon series. Running the first leg on a punishing course at altitude, O’Connell posted a time of 2.37.53 in the Standard Chartered Nairobi International Marathon. The next finishers in the division were Irish-born Australian athlete Martin Considine and Danish athlete Kenneth Nielssen, with the sub 2.20 Ukrainian athlete Oleksandr Vavelyuk finishing in fourth spot. Last year’s division victors, Great Britain, are now over nine minutes in arrears. The Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth Series is the world’s only marathon series and team event, and offers the biggest prize pool in world athletics – US$1.5 million. The GROE marathon races encompass some of the world’s most challenging city running environments – Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. The next runner for Ireland will be Pauric McKinney, who takes part in the Singapore Marathon on 3 December. The winners of the Europe & Oceania division will receive a prize fund of US $30,000.