One Week and Counting....

It is only one week until Catherine heads to Boston for the 115th Boston Marathon and we will be right with her filming! We need to film Catherine in Boston. That race is such a part of her resume that it would be a sin not to film with her there. The campaign to raise money for filming in Boston has been going very well and we are just shy of our half way mark! However, with only 8 days left on the campaign, we really need to step things up. Please click here or on the IndieGoGo link on the right side of this page and do what you can. As little as $10 will help and don't forget to check out the perks! 

Ok...end of plug :)

A lot has been happening! Catherine arrived last Tuesday and the next day went right to one of her favorite places when she is in the U.S.; Dr. Johnny-King-Marino's office! She doesn't get the chiropractic care in Kenya that she gets from Dr. Johnny!

This past weekend, Catherine ran in the Cooper River Bridge Run and placed 5th. More important than the place she took was that she ran injury free and felt good! Hopefully she is getting a little used to the East Coast weather here in the U.S.; it's been a little crazy. We've had temperatures range from the upper 70's to the low 30's! But, this should only prepare her more for Boston!

WinCatherine has been mentioned in a new blog: MyRun Australia so please check out the site! http://www.myrun.com.au/

I'll try to post again before heading up, otherwise, I'll be posting from Boston!

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! 

Only 7 More Days to Help Fund WinCatherine on IndieGoGo

There are only 7 days left on our IndieGoGo campaign to help get us to the next stage of production and log all of our footage and get it transcribed and translated where necessary. All contributions are tax deductible and there are incentives as well! 

With celebrities now speaking out against bullying and bringing public awareness to the issue, now more than ever we need to tell this story to show our children that you do not have to be defined by what others say or think! Catherine overcame many obstacles and one of the biggest was the teasing she endured as a child.

Please log on to IndieGoGo and contribute what you can! We have had 2,172 views; that means if each visitor donated even $10, we would have raised $21,172! If each visitor had donated even $5, we would have raised $10,860 and met our goal! So even if you think a little doesn't help, it really does! Let's see if we can reach our goal in the next 7 days!

CATHERINE NDEREBA & "PREFONTAINE"!?!?!

ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT! 

If you are in the Philadelphia area, or within a reasonable driving distance, DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY to MEET CATHERINE NDEREBA 
at a special event!

Advanced Sports Chiropractic

Tickets are limited and only $10.00!

GUARANTEE YOUR SEATS BY PURCHASING YOUR TICKETS ONLINE NOW!  
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKET VIA PAYPAL

Sponsored By:

 If you are not able to attend, you can STILL HELP! Please visit our IndieGoGo campaign, check out our incentives and donate there! (contributions tax deductible according to the information on the IndieGoGo page) 

And, don't forget to visit us on Facebook and re-post any of these events to your page:  http://www.facebook.com/wincatherine

A Birthday Home Then Back in the USA

July 21, 2009 Catherine's birthday celebration

Well here it is mid-July and it has been a bit unusual not having Catherine here in the United States.  Except for the year she had Jane, this will be the first year in 15 that she will celebrate her birthday on July 21st IN Kenya with her husband! She has been in the United States training and competing every other year. The photo here was taken at her birthday celebration in the U.S. last year and for fun I photoshopped Anthony in to the picture. I'm glad she'll actually be with him this year so they can celebrate his birthday a little early with her as well (his is July 25th). She will, however, spend part of the day traveling as she leaves that night and arrives back in Philadelphia on the 22nd. Fortunately though, she has been training in Kenya and nursing her torn muscle back to health and hopefully will be in top form again in no time!

As for the film, things are moving along but we are still feeling the effects of the economy and raising the budget is taking longer than expected. The good news is, we have extended our IndieGoGo campaign and you can still donate (even as little as $10) to help! Just think, if Catherine Ndereba's story can inspire one girl to pursue her dreams, one girl to make a better life for herself, you will be a part of that! Please check out the IndieGoGo campaign donate whatever you can to help.

We want to send out a very special thanks to Marathonguide.com for their generous donation to WinCatherine! Marathonguide.com is a great website for " Everything Marathoning - Information, Results & More" and you can check them out here: marathonguide.com

I'll be sure to post some new photos as soon as I see Catherine after her arrival!

WinCatherine on IndieGoGO now accepting Tax-Deductible Donations!

I mentioned an announcement would be coming regarding the IndieGoGo campaign and now it is official: Our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, has now  partnered with IndieGoGo which is great news for anyone making a donation to WinCatherine!  Now in addition to choosing a perk or incentive for your donation, your contribution is tax-deductible (to the extent of the law)! Click here to visit WinCatherine on IndieGoGoo;  check it out and be a part of making this film happen!    

Now on to other news:

I spoke to Catherine today for the first time since her return from the UK in conjunction with the Kenyan Community Bedford program (see previous post). She said it was an excellent trip! Along with a few other top elite athletes from Kenya,  they visited an elementary school, a high school and a university where they ran with the students.  They visited a hospital where Kenyan Community Bedford has been involved with raising money to support the children's ward, and they also did a run on Saturday with adults. The program was designed to  inspire both the British and Kenyan people in the communities.  The schedule was quite busy and there was not much time for training but Catherine said it was all a great experience!

Photo by Ken courtesy of Kenyan Community Bedford

Catherine is now back in Kenya again and continues to heal from the injury to her piriformis muscle which forced her to withdraw from the Boston Marathon back in April. At this time she is not in pain and has just begun to add speed work back into her training.  One of Catherine's many strengths is that she has always been able to listen to her body and progress as she sees fit. She's hoping to be fully healed soon so she can resume her racing! For now she is enjoying being back home with her family. Her daughter arrives home tomorrow for an extended weekend break from school and Catherine is very excited to spend time with her and celebrate Jane's belated 13th birthday!

Want to see footage from Catherine's visit to the UK and much more?  Please don't forget to check out the IndieGoGo campaign and our website and donate whatever you can to help us get this film finished; there is a lot of amazing footage and interviews waiting to be assembled!

Updates: May 2010

I spoke to Catherine last week before leaving for my son's graduation from Duke (yes, I'm a proud mama!) Catherine said she had a nice but quiet Mother's Day with her husband.  Jane was away at school so she didn't get to spend time with her but had just seen her while Jane had a short break. Catherine said she has been training and receiving a lot of massage therapy and that the muscle tear is healing. She hopes to be back in the U.S. soon for training as well.

In news about the film, donations have not been coming in as well as hoped so we still have not been able to move ahead with the next step of logging all the footage we've shot, transcribing it all and getting translation for Swahili and Kikuyu dialogue. The economy has not helped but we are still hoping people will come forward and make whatever contribution they can at our website:  www.wincatherine.com
We are also still looking for corporate sponsors so if you know of an organization that may be able to help, please let us know! Every little bit counts!