WinCatherine Nyambura Ndereba

‘Catherine the Great’

Born July 21, 1972 in Gatunganga, Nyeri County she was arguably the best female marathoner in the
world. Her dominance in the women marathon races is clear having won 2 marathons at the World
Championships in Athletics, 2 silver medals in the Olympics and 4 wins in the Boston Marathon. Her
personal best being 2:18:47 in the Chicago Marathon in 2001.

Catherine Ndereba at the Beijing Olympics

In 1994, the Kenya Prisons Service recruited her into the athletics programme after leaving Ngorano
Secondary School where her running career nurtured.

In 1995, she got her first chance to represent Kenya at a women’s relay race in Seoul, Korea.

In 1996, she was ranked 2nd in USA Track and Field’s World Road Running Rankings. The same year
she was named Road Runner of the Year by Runner’s World magazine and Road Racer of the Year by
Running Times.

In 1998, she was named Road Runner of the Year by Runner’s World and Road Racer of the Year by
Running Times. The same year she won a bronze and team gold at World Half-Marathon Championships
in Palermo, Italy. She also ran the world’s fastest times at 5km (15:09), 12km (38:37), 15km (48:52) and
10 miles (53:07). This year also marked her marathon debut, coming 6th at Boston Marathon in 2:28:27.

The start of millennium marked her breakthrough in marathons, with a Boston and Chicago marathon
win (2000). In 2000, she was awarded with AIMS World Athlete of the Year award by Associations of
International Marathons and Distance Races.

In 2001, she won the City-Pier-City Loop half-marathon, Boston Marathon and broke the World Record
in the Chicago Marathon.

In 2002, she came 2nd in both the Boston and Chicago Marathon.

In 2003, she won the World Championships and Sapporo half-marathon. She finished 2 nd at London and
New York City Marathon.

In 2004, Summer Olympics, Athens she was a silver medalist and had her third Boston Marathon win.

In 2005, she became the first four-time Boston Marathon woman winner at the 109 th edition. She was
also the World Championships silver medalist.

In 2006, she was the Osaka International Ladies Marathon and Bogota half-marathon winner.

In 2007, she won her 2nd World Championships.

In 2008, Summer Olympics, Beijing she had her second silver medal in the Marathon.

Awards:

In 2004 and 2005 Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year Awards

In 2005, Order of the Golden Warrior awarded by President Mwai Kibaki

In 2008, Greatest women’s marathoner of all time by Chicago Tribune sportswriter