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Medal record
Ndereba at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
Competitor for  Kenya
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Silver	2008 Beijing	Marathon
Silver	2004 Athens	Marathon
World Championships
Gold	2003 Paris	Marathon
Gold	2007 Osaka	Marathon
Silver	2005 Helsinki	Marathon

Wincatherine Nyambura Ndereba^[1] (born July 21, 1972) is a world class Kenyan marathon runner. She won the Boston Marathon four times and silver medals in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. Ndereba broke the women's marathon world record in 2001, running 2:18:47 at the Chicago Marathon. In 2008, Ndereba was described by a Chicago Tribune sportswriter as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.^[2]

Career

Ndereba is from Gatunganga in Nyeri District, and went to Ngorano Secondary School where she pursued her running career. In 1994, she was recruited into its athletics program by the Kenya Prisons Service ^[3]. Ndereba was awarded the 2004 and 2005 Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year awards^[4]. She was awarded the Order of the Golden Warrior decoration by president Mwai Kibaki in 2005 ^[5].

She finished 7th at the 2009 London Marathon, equalling Katrin Dorre's record of 21 sub-2:30 hours marathons ^[6].

She has won the Philadelphia Distance Run half marathon seven times, most recently in 2009 ^[7].

Ndereba, whose nickname is 'Catherine the Great', currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with her husband Anthony Maina and daughter Jane. Her brother Samuel Ndereba and sister Anastasia Ndereba are also marathon runners.

Achievements

• 1995
  • Represented Kenya internationally for the first time at a women's relay race in Seoul, Korea.
  • Set a 10K personal record, 31:35, at the Richard S. Caliguiri/City of Pittsburgh Great Race.
• 1996
  • Entered 18 races, won 13.
  • Ranked No. 2 in USA Track and Field's World Road Running Rankings; named Road Runner of the Year by Runner's World magazine and Road Racer of the Year by Running Times.
  • Finished third in the Richard S. Caliguiri/City of Pittsburgh Great Race.
• 1997
  • Did not run
  • Gave birth to daughter, Jane.
• 1998
  • Named Road Runner of the Year by Runner's World and Road Racer of the Year by Running Times.
  • Won individual bronze and team gold at World Half-Marathon Championships in Palermo, Italy.
  • Ran world's fastest times at 5K (15:09), 15K (48:52), 12K (38:37) and 10 miles (53:07).
  • Made marathon debut, finishing sixth at Boston in 2:28:27.
  • Finally won the Richard S. Caliguiri/City of Pittsburgh Great Race with a time of 32:11, nipping American Libbie Hickman at the finish line.
• 2000
  • Boston Marathon winner
  • Chicago Marathon winner
  • World Athlete of the Year award by AIMS ^[8]
• 2001
  • City-Pier-City Loop (half marathon) winner ^[9].
  • Boston Marathon winner
  • Chicago Marathon winner (World Record)
• 2002
  • Finished second at Boston Marathon. Also second at Chicago Marathon.
• 2003
  • World Championships gold medalist
  • Sapporo half-marathon winner.
  • Second at New York City Marathon and London Marathon.
• 2004
  • 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens - silver medalist in Marathon.
  • Boston Marathon winner
• 2005
  • Boston Marathon winner (the first four-time woman's winner)
  • World Championships silver medalist
• 2006
  • Osaka Marathon winner
  • Bogota Half Marathon winner ^[10]
• 2007
  • World Championships gold medalist
• 2008
  • 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing - silver medalist in Marathon.

Bibliography

• Catherine Ndereba: The Marathon Queen, by Ng’ang’a Mbugua. Sasa Sema Publications, 2008 ^[5]

References

• IAAF profile for Catherine Ndereba
• Famous People from Kenya [1]

External links

• "Catherine Ndereba", n°38 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
• "Catherine Ndereba" Documentary Project

Records
Preceded by Naoko Takahashi	Women's Marathon World Record Holder October 7, 2001 – October 13, 2002	Succeeded by Paula Radcliffe
Sporting positions
Preceded by Tegla Loroupe	Women's Fastest Marathon Race 2000 – 2001	Succeeded by Paula Radcliffe