Catherine Nyambura Ndereba[1] (born 21 July 1972) is a retired Kenyan
marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the
World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the
Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008, becoming Kenya's first female multi-medalist. She is also a four-time winner of the
Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the
Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's
marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.[2]
In 2008, Ndereba was described by Chicago Tribune sportswriter Philip Hersh as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.[3]
Career
Catherine Ndereba comes from
Gatunganga in
Nyeri District,[4] 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.[5] Ndereba was awarded the 2004 and 2005
Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year awards.[6] She was awarded the Order of the Golden Warrior by President
Mwai Kibaki in 2005.[7]
Ndereba finished seventh at the 2009
London Marathon, equalling
Katrin Dorre's record of 21 sub-2:30 hours marathons.[8] She placed third at the
Yokohama Women's Marathon later that year, finishing the course in a time of 2:29:13 hours.[9] She did not finish another marathon race until October 2011, when she crossed the line in 2:30:14 hours for third at the
Beijing Marathon.[10]
Ndereba, whose nickname is "Catherine the Great",[11] lives in
Nairobi with her husband Anthony Maina and daughter Jane.[12] Her brother Samuel and sister
Anastasia are also marathon runners.[13]
Achievements
1995
Represented Kenya internationally for the first time at a women's relay race in
Seoul, Korea