Catherine Returns to the U.S.

Only 2 more days until Catherine returns to the U.S. to prepare for the Boston Marathon and only 16 more days in our fundraising campaign!  It's amazing, we got off to such a great start; Unfortunately. there was a glitch in the system and our fiscal sponsorship wasn't initially linked to the IndieGoGo campaign, so we had to refund a few donations and ask that the donors re-enter their contribution. So we're still waiting for them to re-donate but please don't let that stop you! We really need everyone's help here. With so many people out there in the on-line universe, it shouldn't be that difficult to raise $4000 to cover filming and the expenses related to it! Send the link to your friends, send it to your Facebook account, don't be afraid to send it anywhere because you just never know who you'll talk to or run in to!

Here is the link you want to share:  http://www.indiegogo.com/WinCatherine-The-Story-of-Wincatherine-Nyambura-Ndereba-1

Photo courtesy of Victah Sailer

See you in Boston! 

Post Crim and Some Blogs to Check Out

Catherine returned to Flint, MI this past weekend to run the 2010 Crim Festival of Races 10 mile. When asked how many time she had won the race, she said "like three or four times" but someone corrected her that it was actually SIX times! She really had no idea just how successful she has been at the Crim!  She won every year from 1996-2002 except for 1997 when she was pregnant and did not run.  She had not been back since 2002 because each year since, she has been training for either the World Championships or the Olympics, and it did not fit into her training schedule. She was genuinely glad to be back and had told me while we were cooking the weekend before, that she was looking forward to it. She placed 5th and was very happy with that. She has now run three races since coming off her injury and she's feeling healthy. Her speed work is also progressing so things are good!

As for the documentary, we are still looking for donations and sponsors for the film and hopefully this week we will see a new surge in people who want to see this film happen and are able to donate.  Several bloggers have written posts and I'd like to thank them here.

I want to send a huge shout out to Leah at her Chasing Atlanta blog. She wrote a post about WinCatherine and asked her readers to check out our websites and help out if they can! Chasing Atlanta is a great running blog so please check it out and look through her previous posts as well. 

I also want to send a big thank you to Ryan at I Run Flint for the blog post letting his readers know about the WinCatherine documentary and asking them for help as well! Please check out his blog that is also full of inspiring stories. Ryan also sent in photos taken of Catherine at the Crim race last weekend. 

Thanks also to everyone who has already helped out and supports this inspirational film. Keep passing on our IndieGoGo campaign to your friends and family and together we will make it happen!

photo courtesy of Ryan Litwiller

photo courtesy of Ryan Litwiller

photo courtesy of Ryan Litwiller

Boston Marathon Race Day: April 19, 2010 Part Two

 view of the finish line of the 2010 Boston Marathon taken from The Lenox Hotel

 

Race day in Boston was amazing! From very early on there were people on Boylston Street milling around and making final preparations. We had many options for filming; the view from my room at the Lenox Hotel offered a prime spot facing the finish line, they also invited us to their rooftop party which had an incredible view of Boylston Street approaching the finish line and beyond and we also could get down on the street near the bleachers and shoot from there as well. We started the morning capturing the run Catherine did with Joan Benoit Samuelson. Our Boston DP, Russ Jaquith, followed them on his bicycle and filmed them during a light run along the Charles River. The footage looks amazing! They got back from their run just in time for the womens' start. Catherine watched the race with her friend Helen and Lisa in a lounge reserved for managers and coaches of the elite athletes. At 11:20 am a reporter from WBZ interviewed Catherine just beyond the finish line and asked her about her injury and missing the race. As usual, she was completely gracious and upbeat. 

Unfortunately, since we were working we did not get to see much of the race but what we did catch was exciting and we heard bits and pieces of the commentary. It was very exciting on all fronts and amazing to see Ernst Van Dyk win his 9th title in the men's wheelchair division, Robert Cheruiyot set the course record in the men's race and Teyba Erkesso hold on to a commanding lead to win the women's race. Being right there in the midst of all the commotion near the finish line was incredible and the atmosphere was electric! We went over to the Fairmont Copley and Catherine was with Helen in the lobby waiting for their friends to come in from the course. Salina Kosgei, last year's winner of the women's race, came in third and Catherine was there to greet and congratulate her as well as the other winners. Even though she hadn't run today, many people approached Catherine in the lobby and she greeted them all with warmth and signed autographs or posed for photos with anyone who asked. Lisa went off to greet Moses Kigen Kipgosgei, one of her other athletes who came in 8th in the men's race; he was having a lot of foot pain so they went to have the podiatrist look at it.  Catherine and Helen waited in the lobby. They were sitting on a sofa and Denise Robson's mother was right next to them when she learned that Denise had won the women's masters race! It was so awesome to watch the emotion well up and overtake her; the proud mama! I was glad to hear that Denise won; she was awesome!

Around 1pm we went back to The Lenox to film from the room and the roof and get some nice shots of people crossing the finish line.  

view from the roof of The Lenox Hotel

There was a big marathon party going on all day at the Lenox and the energy at the place was a lot of fun and made our job more fun too! 
Boston DP Russ Jaquith films from top of The Lenox Hotel

After getting some nice footage of the finish line we went back to the Fairmont Copley because there were still some interviews we wanted to do. I really wanted an interview with Joan Benoit Samuelson since she has actually been an inspiration to Catherine! I was finally able to grab a quick interview with her and that was really important to me especially since she had such a busy schedule all week! I also did a follow up interview with Jacqueline Gareau who was the official winner of the 1980 Boston Marathon and was only recognized after Rosie Ruiz was exposed as a fraud for jumping into the race with only one mile to go; another amazing lady at 57 years old who ran today on the 30th anniversary of her win!

We wrapped up late and headed over to the John Hancock post race party where the elite athletes, John Hancock employees and other race officials were. There were some nice speeches on behalf of John Hancock's 25th anniversary of sponsoring the Boston Marathon and all of the athletes were introduced. It was quite a gathering of impressive talent! Afterwards, the athletes were taken to a different party on the same floor; this was a party for all of the great volunteers who work so hard to help out with the marathon. The athletes were introduced one by one and a few of them spoke to the volunteers including the winners and American's Ryan Hall (4th) and Meb Keflezighi (5th) . I am always amazed when Catherine gives an impromptu speech; she always sounds so eloquent and thanked the sponsors, the BAA and especially all of the volunteers. Just having Catherine there and being asked to speak spoke volumes about her place in the history of the Boston Marathon. When that part was finished it was late and Lisa, Helen and Catherine wanted to get back to the hotel. It took about a half hour just to say goodbyes because people kept coming up and asking to have their photo taken with Catherine and she was all too happy to pose with them. 

Catherine poses for photos with fans at the John Hancock post race party

Helen grabs a photo with 4th place American Ryan Hall

 

By the time I got back to my hotel, I was exhausted; (I can't complain about how much my feet hurt because I didn't run the marathon so I won't!) I wanted to make sure I was packed before hitting the bed so I wouldn't have to get up extra early :) I was up at 7 in order finish packing and meet my college friend, Robin, for breakfast. It was fun to get to see her again!

I wanted to start my drive back to Philly between 11 and noon but was waiting to hear from Lisa first because with so many flights routing through London being canceled I knew there was a chance Catherine and Moses would need a ride back to Philly. Sure enough, the flight they were scheduled on back to Kenya was canceled. So, I ended up having company for the ride back! I do feel badly for them though; they were planning on heading home to Kenya. It was nice not driving alone though! We made great time and fortunately did not hit any traffic at all! We made the drive in just over 5 1/2 hours. As much as I love having Catherine here, I hope she is able to get a flight in the next day or two; Jane Murage (see previous blog entries or the trailer) is getting married on Saturday and Catherine is the maid of honor; I know she is extremely anxious to get back in time so as not to disappoint Jane.

Overall, the Boston week was an amazing experience! It was nice to meet many of the people I've spoken to on the phone or emailed with, I met athletes of all ages and abilities, saw some college friends I hadn't seen in years and got great material for WinCatherine! The Lenox Hotel made the experience even better; they were so accommodating, friendly and couldn't do enough for us. The people at John Hancock were also amazing and were extremely supportive! 

Now it is back to work in the office and time to do more fundraising; we need to get all this footage logged in but need to raise enough money to get it done! Please remind your friends and any companies you know that can help with donations or sponsorships and ask them to go to www.wincatherine.com/donate.html to contribute to this film! Thank you!

Queen's Relay Baton passes through Kenya

The Queen's Relay Baton was received in Kenya on Christmas Day in Nairobi and was then flown to Mombasa where President Kibaki officially received it. On hand to present the Baton was Catherine Ndereba as well as 10,000m Commonwealth Games champion Lucy Kabuu and National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) Chairman Kipchoge Keino. You can read about it here: Queen's Relay Baton handed over

 Photo courtesy The Standard

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)

Summer Race Schedule

It's hard to imagine that it has been a year now since I started filming Catherine in the United States. She returned to Norristown, PA on Monday to begin training for the summer races. It is here that she is able to get her regular chiropractic visits and massage therapy and get to her best form. She loves her weekly visits to the chiropractor. She once said: "What it does for my muscles; it just makes me feel great. Just straighten up what is crooked....when you train you keep on having those kind of funny, funny structure, funny style of running so when you get adjusted, you get aligned." She went on to comment :
"You get addicted; like a drug {laughs} Same as massage you know? If you get used to like to run when you get massage, it's so hard for you to do without one - you just try like uh, to train for like two weeks without having massage- you just keep on feeling like your body is like a lump; you don’t move:. (while she does get massage back in Kenya, she does not get chiropractic care there; she doesn't feel there is anyone she can trust her body with there when it comes to adjustments).
So I know I'm glad when she is here and can keep her body from feeling like a lump! :-)

Summer Races
Catherine was in NYC for the mini 10k on June 7th where she placed 4th. Fortunately, she said her toe has been feeling much better!

This past weekend she was in London where you saw she won the Asics British London 10k.

Her next race will be the Bogota Half Marathon on August 2nd in Columbia.

On August 16th she will run the NYC Half Marathon. 2008


And then in September, she will run the Philadelphia Distance Run where she will be going for her 7th win!

during 2008 Philadelphia Distance Run and after finishing 2nd

Catherine has not decided yet on her next marathon.

Catherine set to defend her NYC Half Marathon Title in great company!

It was announced today that Catherine will be defending her NYC Half Marathon title this year and running with a great field. Deena Kastor and Lornah Kiplagat will both be among the women competing. I interviewed Lornah last year during the NYC Marathon where she was a spectator and again in Kenya a few short months ago. Deena has agreed to participate in the film and I look forward to interviewing her as soon as I raise the budget :) This is the fourth year for the NYC Half Marathon race and Catherine won the first and third years and came in a very close second the second year! All three women are coming off of injuries earlier in the year; Catherine with her toe injury from the London Marathon, Lornah with a knee injury back in March and Deena suffered an inflamation of the same foot she broke during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The three would have competed in the NYRR New York Mini 10K back in June if it weren't for the injuries. Catherine was the only one able to run and she did well for still nursing a sore toe; she was 4th.

Catherine arrived yesterday from London and it will be good to see her! I haven't seen her since leaving Kenya May 31st. Summer is definitely in full swing back in Norristown, PA with the athletes house slowly filling up as everyone is training for the road races scheduled all over. This is the time of year that Lisa, as manager, is the busiest and she can usually be found driving to or from the airport, to or from the chiropractor will a van full of athletes, to or from the track or various other destinations with Catherine and the other athletes!

Catherine at the athletes training home in Norristown, PA

Back to Roots II

Today we actually got to sleep in; 7am! We left our lovely *cough* Central Hotel after a decent breakfast that was included with the room. We arrived at Kahira Ini Primary School by 8:15 and there were already a lot of students there! Now remember, this is SATURDAY! Because of the track meet on Friday, the headmaster arranged for us to come in today and he also invited parents. Unfortunately there was also a church function today so many were not able to come. When we got there we started filming immediately but there were so many kids interested in the camera that we took some time first to let them check it out! It was cute how curious they all were. Jon had his camera and I had my little Canon and we would film a group of children and then play it back for them while they all giggled and vied for the best viewing position! We interviewed several teachers there and you could see how excited both parents and children were while waiting for Catherine to arrive. We scheduled to be there long before her so we could do all the other interviews and establishing shots. We did not know that they had planned an entire assembly and were expecting Catherine to speak formally to the children and parents. When we learned that she was only minutes away, the headmaster got all of the children and parents seated. When Catherine arrived there was such an excitement in the air you could hear the buzzing! The teachers all greeted her and Anthony and Charles Githii, the headmaster, walked the grounds with Catherine as she reminisced.

Finally the children were rewarded when first Anthony was introduced to speak and then Catherine.

They did not speak in English so I had to rely on the reactions of the children and later learned what they were told. Anthony warned them about staying away from the gangs that had been causing some trouble in the area lately and Catherine spoke to them about working hard in school and nurturing any talents they have that they should not be afraid to start small and not give up. She urged parents to let their children follow their dreams and to support them and she was very humbled that so many people came out to see her on a Saturday when they could be doing other things. She also announced that she was donating 100,000ksh to the school to use for things that they need most! There was a question and answer session after and the children seemed curious to know more. Once again, we were there longer than I had anticipated; I just underestimate the amount of time people want to spend with Catherine especially when it comes to kids!

Before leaving we were invited to have some drinks and a snack so of course we accepted (remember it is impolite not to anyway and we were very hungry by that time!) When I say drinks, it is not the kind of drinks you may be thinking but it also was not tea! It was soda which is very big in Kenya, especially all things Coke a Cola! Before leaving, Catherine wrote her donation check as promised and presented it to the headmaster. She said she would follow up and see what they use the funds for.

It was once again getting late and we needed to visit Catherine’s birth home so off we went. Catherine rode with us in the van so she could commentate and Anthony drove their 4 wheel vehicle. We made a stop at the little shopping strip so Catherine could buy some groceries to bring to her brother’s home as she never shows up empty handed. It is customary to bring basic needs to those who do not earn as much as you do. She got what she needed, I got drinks for everyone and then we continued on our way.

As we neared our destination the ground was soggy and muddy and lo and behold we got stuck! Anthony was driving ahead of us and didn’t notice so he kept going until he was out of site. We all got out of the van and Jon and Willy pushed while Michael (driver) tried to steer the way out. Catherine and I stood out of the way and watched the mud flying! She was on the phone so Anthony called me to ask where we were and I told him our predicament! He drove back but the guys were finally able to free the van and we continued to the birth home.

It was different from last year in the fact that the project her brother was working on that prevented us from driving up the hill was complete but we decided not to even try taking the van up the hill! Anthony drove up but we walked! It is a beautiful piece of land that sits up high and overlooks the countryside; just breathtaking. Catherine walked us around the property and showed us where she and her siblings lived, how they gathered water and where she grew food. The original structure she lived in as a child is still there but her brother, Anthony uses it for storage now and built another house on the land where he lives with his wife, Grace (also known as Mama Lillian) and two children, Hilda and Lillian. Word quickly spread that Catherine was visiting and soon a former neighbor showed up as well as Catherine’s uncle, one of her father’s brothers! Catherine gave her uncle some groceries and she gave the former neighbor some cash (again, custom to help those less fortunate). Then Mama Lillian prepared tea for all as well as sweet potatoes that she had roasted on the fireplace that is their stove. The house is in the same style as the one Catherine grew up in with the kitchen in a separate building. We enjoyed the healthy snack and then had to say our goodbyes so we could make our last stop of the day.

When we got back down to our car and were about to leave, we ran into Charity, Catherine’s Aunt that we ran into and interviewed on our first visit to her home town.

She asked me to come to her house (just up the road) for a visit and some tea and I felt horrible having to decline. I know it is not polite but we were on a very tight schedule and it would be getting dark soon and we still had to visit Anthony’s parents who had been waiting for us. I promised that the next time I come I will take her up on the generous offer.

We drove back through Karatina and on to Anthony’s parents who still live in the home where Anthony grew up. I still don’t know how people find their way around these places as there are no street signs and people just know which coffee field to turn at! I had not seen Anthony’s parents’ home in daylight and when we arrived it was very pretty! They have a little orchard/garden where they grow some vegetables and also have some passion fruit trees! They showed us down into the garden and I watched Anthony climb a passion fruit tree like a little kid (even though he was wearing dress clothes and shoes!)

He and Catherine knocked down a lot of fruit and I tasted my first passion fruit which was surprisingly good! We then interviewed Anthony’s parents, Jane and Kenneth and learned some interesting things from them. Anthony definitely gets his sense of humor from his father; in fact, they are almost one and the same person! His mother seems to be very practical and we learned that she used to be a runner as well! We shared some tea and biscuits and a little bit of time and then needed to head out so we could get back to Nairobi before it got too late. We left Catherine and Anthony there to spend a little “alone” time with the parents and Anthony said he would see us on the road as he passes us! I laughed and we got on the way :) Sure enough, about 40 minutes into the drive, we saw them pass our van! Kenyan drivers! :) We stayed our course and arrived back at Wasini at almost 10:30. It was a long day but well worth it!

Kibera

I can’t believe it is already May! The time is really flying by. Today we got a call back from the person we had called to take us into Kibera. You need to go in with a local who has connections and knows the place because it is easy to be robbed there and we were going in with our equipment A Kenyan who I have been in touch with just finished filming a feature film inside the slum so she referred us to her security man, Bangkok. He directed Willy where to meet him and we parked the car outside of a police station and met him. He was a very striking man with a commanding presence. He had a scar on his face from a knife wound that he told us was received during a clash with police some years ago. He enlisted one more man to go with us so our equipment would be protected and he also helped carry the tripod. The first thing we did before going in was to buy “sweets” to give out to children. We bought two bags of lollipops and headed in. I wanted to learn if the children inside knew who Catherine Ndereba was and thought it would be interested to know what they knew of her.

We headed into “town” down a dirt road and we were struck by what we saw; just like the outside view of wall to wall rooftops, inside was wall to wall buildings, stores and homes. It was the Kenyan Labor Day so we knew there would be many kids around since there was no school that day. As soon as we got into town there was a railroad track that stretches straight through the town.

We just caught the end of a freight train. We are told that the train runs from UgandaKenya. We were immediately surrounded by children and when I asked if they knew who Catherine was they had no idea. This was just the beginning of what would be a huge eye-opener; throughout this slum, almost no one knew who she was! We went through the lollipops on no time and had to stop and buy more sweets; this time colorful sucking candies. Even adults would come ask for some! What struck me most about Kibera was how many children were there and all alone; brothers and sisters wandered along taking care of each other with no parents in site.

The shops were tiny and one after another. There was a toilet area that smelled awful and was concentrated in an area at the end of a block of homes. There were actually some TV antennas around but for the most part, it was dirty, dingy and crowded; 1.5 million people live inside this slum (I need to research what the square footage is). However, as dreary as it seemed to us, the children there are happy; they don’t know any different and that is sad. When we did find children who had a hero or role model, it was of a football (soccer) player. They have no Kenyan role models but they like to kick around the football and they know the players. It was interesting to think about why the runners in Kenya are not celebrated throughout the country like our sports heroes are in America! We spent about 4 hours inside just walking, looking and talking to people of all ages. When we left I had a new view of Kenya; while some places are extremely beautiful, it is contrasted by this sad place where people rarely get out. It was great to have Bangkok with us as he was able to handle the locals well and they all seemed to know who he was and respect his authority. He said he had recently formed a security company and he and his men have worked with several film crews inside.

Bangkok & Willie in Kibera

When we left there we stopped by Willy’s offices at Film Studios. It is a complex with several film/production companies that rent office space inside the compound. We met with some of the executives there and all exchanged business cards for future. We left there and stopped for some lunch at a place called Java House which is owned by Americans and is a chain similar to Starbucks but they have a full menu. It was good and they have free wifi :-)

Overall, it was an extremely interesting day and I am glad we experienced it!

kids everywhere love the camera!