A Norristown Sweep!

It was a great day today for the Kenyans who train in Norristown, PA under the management of Lisa Buster of Promotion in Motion Ltd International as they swept the top three places in the women's race and the 2nd place in the men's race at the ING Philadelphia Distance Run. Catherine won the race for her 7th time (the first since 2002) with a time of 1:09:43 and she was in great form. Close behind her was Irene Limika in 2nd place right on Catherine's heels at 1:09:46. Coming in thrid was Nerriah Asiba at 1:10:26 who also ran strong. (Both Irene and Nerriah had personal bests) On the men's side, American Ryan Hall took 1st place (1:01:52) with Catherine's brother, Samuel Ndereba right behind placing 2nd (1:01:56). Lisa had 5 runners entered in the race today and 4 of them were on the podium; Caroline Chepkorir was 11th on the women's side.

The weather could not have been ordered to be more perfect; it started off a bit cool but the sun was warm and there was no wind. It was an amazing day to be outside and this race throughout Philadelphia is a gorgeous course. It starts on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the Philadelphia Art Museum (where Rocky ran up the steps). They even had a Rocky impersonator out today who was a lot of fun! The course then winds around some city streets before returning to the Parkway and heading down the West River Drive which runs along the Schuylkill River, then across a bridge and back down Kelly drive on the other side of the river and ends up back in front of the art museum again. I rode in the back of the ladies press truck again this year (which consisted of a pick up truck with 4 pop up camping-type chairs in the bed); it was fun and I was able to get some footage of Catherine and the others. It was a bit of a challenge however because there were two men who were running with the lead pack of women and they kept blocking my shots! I was very happy when the women finally moved past them! For most of the second half of the race it was Irene and Catherine jockeying for first. The press truck took off at about mile 10 so we could make it to the finish line before the runners so I did not get to see how the end played out until the finish but since the times were so close I can picture how it went. Catherine is just too hard to beat in a kick at the end and she finally made her move, although I'm not sure at what point that actually was! It was very exciting to watch though!

The awards ceremony was nice and the trophies this year were especially nice with the Liberty Bell prominent
. Each of the winners received a beautiful lei made from fresh flowers and as is usual for Catherine, before she boarded the bus back to the hotel she walked over to a little girl sitting on the curb watching the race with her family, bent down and placed the flowers around the little girl's neck. It always warms my heart how much she is drawn towards children!

L to R: Catherine Ndereba, Ryan Hall & Samuel Ndereba

Catherine Ndereba (r) and manager Lisa Buster (l)

Training Continues

Today I caught up with Catherine at Costco where she was with Lisa and the 8 other Kenyan athletes on their weekly shopping expedition. The usual Wednesday routine is to hit Costco on the way back from their chiropractic adjustments with Johnny King-Marino at Advanced Health and Performance Center. The car was quite full today because Samuel Ndereba and Hosea Rotich both arrived from Kenya yesterday much to the delight of Linus who was the ONLY male in the camp for the past several weeks with the 6 women: Catherine, Jane, Caroline, Irene, Nerri and Kellen. Pretty soon Lisa is going to need a bus; the 3-row car is getting really crowded! Everyone seemed very tired and anxious to get back home to get ready for their afternoon training runs.


Catherine returned late Monday from her race in Bogota where she placed 5th with a time of 1:16:07. Bogota is a very tough race because of the high altitude and she ran at a comfortable pace. She is looking forward to her next race in NYC at the Half Marathon. Unfortunately, it was announced late yesterday that Lornah Kiplagat had to pull out of the race due to an ongoing knee problem. When I interviewed her in Kenya she was still rehabilitating the knee from an injury in March. She was hoping to be back in competition soon but evidently she isn't ready. It is a shame since it would have been only the fourth time that she, Deena Kastor and Catherine would be in the same event.

The Birthday Girl!

I can attest to the dedication of Catherine and the other Kenyan athletes; I decided to visit Catherine on her birthday and take some new photographs during the track workout this morning. At 6am near my house it was raining quite steadily so I checked with Lisa to see if she was still planning to take the athletes to the track for their speed work. She said it was not raining out near Norristown and called the athletes' house to be sure they were still on schedule to do the workout. Everyone discussed it and deferred to Catherine who said yes they still wanted to go. I wasn't sure if it would be worth the drive considering it was still raining very steadily but after checking again with Lisa at 7am I decided to make the trip since she said it still was not raining there. Besides, it is a good 50 minutes away so the weather can be very different, I was already up and ready to go AND it IS Catherine's birthday so I went.

When I arrived, the athletes were just finishing their warm up and it was quite chilly but at least it wasn't raining. The crew today was Catherine, Irene, Caroline and a new girl in the camp, Kellen as well as Linus who is not new to Lisa's camp but was not here last summer when we did our filming.

The Nike outfit Catherine was wearing today was awesome! Ok, I admit to being partial to pink but it was a very vibrant pink and I think you'll agree that it just looked gorgeous on her! I just had to take photos regardless of how bleak and dreary it was. Part way through their workout the rains came; it started as a light rain and then got fairly steady but they kept on training. They did their speed work and cool downs and the rain seemed not to even bother them. At one point Catherine said to me: "It is a good day out." I looked at her obviously puzzled. She stared back with a straight face and said "yes, it is a good day out" "FOR SLEEPING"! Aha! So I was not the only one who thought it was a great day to just not get out of bed. It was nice to know that Catherine at least thought it even though she would not dare let herself submit to the temptation!

Everyone was wet after the track workout so Lisa drove them back to the house so they could change into dry clothes. She also picked up Jane and then we all went out for breakfast to celebrate Catherine's birthday.
starting lower left and going clockwise: Caroline, Catherine, Lisa, Linus, Kellen & Jane

I teased her about forgetting to bring a candle to put into her omelet but we all sang happy birthday even without the candle! When we were finished breakfast, Catherine asked me which way I was headed and when I asked her why she mentioned that she would like to go to the dollar store.....uh oh.....how could I pass up the opportunity to escort her to Dollar Tree, especially on her birthday? Far be it from me to deprive her of that treat.....I mean, it's not like I don't LOVE the store myself.....(by the way, I don't believe there is such a thing as a dollar store; they are really twenty dollar stores because I can never get out of there spending less than that!) Jane wanted to go as well so we did a not-so-short trip there so they could stock up on whatever was needed and of course so I could make my deposit as well (although I will say I got out under $15 today so an added bonus!)

It was a nice diversion from the office for part of the day and great to see Catherine back in the U.S. as well as all the others, some of whom I hadn't seen since last year and some who I also saw back in Kenya!

Happy Birthday Catherine! Going strong at 37, you still don't look a day over 21! :-)

Sunday May 10, 2009

Today we interviewed a former Olympian and London and NYC Marathon champion, Douglas Wakiihuri. He was the first Kenyan man to win a gold medal at the World Championships in 1987. He lived and trained in Japan for many years and is very well-spoken and we interviewed him about women in athletics and how things have changed since he was competing. He invited us to Nairobi National Park where he is organizing an event later this month called the Sotokoto Safari Marathon. He has combined his ties with Japan and his love of the marathon to put together this event that will only be a half marathon this year but will progress into a full marathon next. The starting point is inside the game park at the ivory burning site and the finish line is there as well. (They will have rangers on duty the day of the race to ensure protection against any animals). He was very interesting and I’m looking forward to his race; he granted us permission to film the start and finish and Catherine’s brother, Cyrus, will participate in the race as will Irene Limika and Nephat Kinyanjui, two of Lisa’s other runners.

After the interview, we had lunch with Douglas and then Irene met me at the Park with her daughter, Deborah and her husband and another friend. Deborah is so adorable! Douglas provided a ride back to our apartment for all of us and I spent some time with Irene and her family at Wasini. Once Deborah decided it was time to go they went back home . :)