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 The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

in 2004 and 2008, becoming Kenya's first female multi-medalist. She is also a four-time winner of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight 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 ins ...

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 The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' 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 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. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...

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

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, 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 Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

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

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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 Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

* 1996 ** Ranked No. 2 in

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national Sport governing body, 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 kn ...

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

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'' 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 Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

** 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 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 organizatio ...

time * 2002 ** Finished second at the Boston Marathon. Also finished second at the Chicago Marathon * 2003 ** World Championships gold medalist in the marathon **

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

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

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

- 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 winnerIAAF website, 31 July 2008
Joseph and Ndereba win at the Bogota Half Marathon
/ref> ** 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

- 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 continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndereba, Catherine 1972 births Living people Sportspeople 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 for 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 21st-century Kenyan sportswomen