I am delighted that Standard Chartered are sponsoring the Standard Chartered Great City Race, which has become firmly established at the City’s premier team running event, for the fourth consecutive year.

Starting and finishing at the Honourable Artillery Company, the race takes a unique 5km course through the streets of the City passing such famous landmarks at the Bank of England and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Last year’s race attracted a record entry of 6,500 runners who donned their trainers to raise money for charity. Hundreds of teams came together from across the Square Mile, and it was fantastic to see so many people running together against such a spectacular backdrop. I am looking forward to seeing even more participants taking part in 2008.

Once again, the race will be supporting a number of extremely worthy causes, including Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the official race charity for 2008. From every entrance fee. £5 will go to the charity and it would be great if we could exceed the £75,000 raised in 2007. If you would like to raise additional sponsorship for this fantastic charity, details can be found on the fundraising section of this website.

I wish you the very best of luck with your training and I hope that you enjoy the evening.

Brendon Hopkins
CEO, Europe
Standard Chartered Bank