Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a Kenyan

marathon runner The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ...

. Ndereba broke the women's

marathon world record This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon. World records in the marathon are now ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a world rec ...

in 2001, running 2:18:47 at the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

. In 2008, Ndereba was described by ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' sportswriter

Philip Hersh Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.

Career

Ndereba is from

Gatunganga Gatunganga is a settlement in Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = ...

Nyeri District Nyeri County is a county located in the central region of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Nyeri. It has a population of 759,164 and an area of 2361 km2. It is currently under the leadership of H.E. Governor Mutahi Kahiga. Other gove ...

, 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 Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013 and is regarded as one of Kenya's founding fathers. He had previously ser ...

in 2005.''Daily Nation'', Lifestyle Magazine, 15 November 2008
Fitting tribute to Marathon Queen
/ref> Ndereba finished seventh at the 2009

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

, equalling Katrin Dorre's record of 21 sub-2:30 hours marathons. She placed third at the

Yokohama Women's Marathon The Yokohama Women's Marathon was a marathon held in Yokohama, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, TV Asahi, the Asahi Shimbun. It is one of the major Japanese women's marathon races which is used to decide selection ...

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 The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the onl ...

. Ndereba, whose nickname is "Catherine the Great", lives in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

with her husband Anthony Maina and daughter Jane. Her brother Samuel and sister

Anastasia Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning " resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mo ...

are also marathon runners.

Achievements

2005 WC Marathon Women 456 Catherine Ndereba

* 1995 ** Represented Kenya internationally for the first time at a women's relay race in

Seoul, Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

* 1996 ** Ranked No. 2 in

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

's World Road Running Rankings; named Road Runner of the Year by ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

'' magazine and Road Racer of the Year by ''

Running Times Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

'' * 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 The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

* 2000 ** Boston Marathon winner ** Chicago Marathon winner ** Named

AIMS World Athlete of the Year The AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award is a running prize which is given annually by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) to the top male and female marathon runners of the year. Prior to 2013, the award was known as AI ...

by the

Association of International Marathons and Distance Races The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership w ...

* 2001 ** City-Pier-City Loop (half marathon) winner. ** Boston Marathon winner ** Chicago Marathon winner in a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

time * 2002 ** Finished second at the Boston Marathon. Also finished second at the Chicago Marathon * 2003 **

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

gold medalist in the marathon **

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

half-marathon winner ** Finished second at both the New York City Marathon and the London Marathon * 2004 **

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

- silver medalist in the marathon ** Boston Marathon winner * 2005 ** Boston Marathon winner (the first four-time woman's winner) **

silver medalist * 2006 **

Osaka International Ladies Marathon The is an annual marathon road race for women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held on the 4th or 5th Sunday of January in the city of Osaka, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Kansai Tel ...

winner ** Bogota Half Marathon winnerIAAF website, 31 July 2008
Joseph and Ndereba win at the Bogota Half Marathon
/ref> ** Finished third at the New York City Marathon * 2007 **

gold medalist ** Finished fifth at the New York City Marathon * 2008 **

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

- 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

Bibliography

* ''Catherine Ndereba: The Marathon Queen'', by Ng’ang’a Mbugua. Sasa Sema Publications, 2008

References

External links

*
"Catherine Ndereba"
n°38 on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

''’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
"Catherine Ndereba" documentary project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndereba, Catherine 1972 births Living people People from Nyeri County Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya Olympic silver medalists for Kenya Boston Marathon female winners Chicago Marathon female winners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races Best Marathon Runner Award World Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Kenyan women 21st-century Kenyan women