The top ten men's and women's athletes from the world's top 50 marathoners will vie for honours in the Standard Chartered Mumbai International Marathon to be held on January 18, 2004.

Minister of state for External Affairs Vinod Khanna, who was instrumental in bringing the marathon to the city, told reporters in Mumbai on Saturday that the US $210,000 run is one of the richest marathons in Asia.

"Standard Chartered Bank are already sponsoring three other international marathons --- Hong Kong, Singapore and Kenya --- and the total expenditure for the Mumbai meet would be US $400,000 which also includes appearance money," he said.

"The marathon will have three divisions -- full marathon (42.195 kms), half marathon (21.0975 kms) and the Dream Run to be run over ten kms.

Prizes would be given upto 30th place in both men's and women's sections.

"Besides these prizes, a separate prize structure will be set up for the top five Indian runners in case they do not finish among the top 30 prize-money winners," Khanna said.