Catherine Ndereba

Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (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.

In 2008, Ndereba was described by Chicago Tribune sportswriter Philip Hersh as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.

Career
Catherine Ndereba comes 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. Ndereba was awarded the 2004 and 2005 Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year awards. She was awarded the Order of the Golden Warrior by President Mwai Kibaki in 2005.

Ndereba finished seventh at the 2009 London Marathon, equalling Katrin Dorre's record of 21 sub-2:30 hours marathons. She placed third at the Yokohama Women's Marathon later that year, finishing the course in a time of 2:29:13 hours. 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.

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

Achievements



 * 1995
 * Represented Kenya internationally for the first time at a women's relay race in Seoul, Korea
 * 1996
 * 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
 * 1997
 * Did not race
 * 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 the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Palermo, Italy
 * Ran the world's fastest times for the year at 5 kilometres (15:09), 12 kilometres (38:37), 15 kilometres (48:52), and 10 miles (53:07).
 * Made her marathon debut at the Boston Marathon, finishing sixth in 2:28:27 hours
 * Finished second at the New York City Marathon
 * 2000
 * Boston Marathon winner
 * Chicago Marathon winner
 * Named AIMS World Athlete of the Year by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races
 * 2001
 * City-Pier-City Loop (half marathon) winner.
 * Boston Marathon winner
 * Chicago Marathon winner in a world record time
 * 2002
 * Finished second at the Boston Marathon. Also finished second at the Chicago Marathon
 * 2003
 * World Championships gold medalist in the marathon
 * Sapporo half-marathon winner
 * Finished second at both the New York City Marathon and the London Marathon
 * 2004
 * 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens - silver medalist in the marathon
 * Boston Marathon winner
 * 2005
 * Boston Marathon winner (the first four-time woman's winner)
 * World Championships silver medalist
 * 2006
 * Osaka International Ladies Marathon winner
 * Bogota Half Marathon winner
 * Finished third at the New York City Marathon
 * 2007
 * World Championships gold medalist
 * Finished fifth at the New York City Marathon
 * 2008
 * 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing - silver medalist in the marathon
 * Finished fifth at the New York City Marathon
 * 2009
 * Finished sixth at the London Marathon
 * 2011
 * Finished third at the Beijing International Marathon