2011 Updates

As we near spring (finally!), I wanted to post some updates on Catherine's schedule. She will be running the Boston Marathon this year and is looking forward to it after being unable to compete last year due to her injury. Her manager, Lisa Buster, is working on creating a full schedule of events but for now, in addition to Boston, she will run a Half Marathon at the Gifu Marathon in Gifu Japan.

Gifu is the birthplace of Naoko Takahashi, and she will be in attendance. Catherine and Naoko hold a special bond; Takahashi held the womens' marathon world record (2:19:46)for only six days before Catherine smashed it with her 2:18:47 in Chicago 2001. I met Naoko Takahashi at the Sotokoto Marathon in Nairobi when we were filming in Kenya. She was lovely and had only great things to say about Catherine and she was sorry they didn't get a chance to visit with each other then. It is nice that they will get to visit together at Gifu.

There have been many news articles now that Catherine has "bowed to pressure" and will run the World Championships again this summer looking for a third title. It's not so much "bowing to pressure" as it is that she has wanted to give some of the younger girls the opportunity to compete, and there are a limited number of positions available on the team. Catherine is already the only woman to have won the World Championships twice.

As for filming of the documentary, we are still looking for funding. Film funding is highly competitive and we're hoping that the message this film brings will attract the sponsorship needed. Please remember to pass along our websites to your friends, family, business associates and anyone else you think may be able to help. It is through your help that we will finish the film in time for the 2012 Olympics!

http://wincatherine.com/        http://wincatherine.blogspot.com/ 

http://www.facebook.com/WinCatherine

Prime Example of Catherine as a Role Model in Kenya

I wasn't really planning on a blog post today but I came across an article online that was discussing the drought for American men and women in winning the Boston Marathon. As I looked over the list, I noticed that there was not ONE female Kenyan winner before Catherine Ndereba's win in 2000. Since then, there have been three others besides Catherine's four wins: Margaret Okayo, Rita Jeptoo and Salina Kosgei. There were plenty of Kenyan MEN winning, going back to Ibrahim Hussein in 1988 but no Kenyan women. To me this just emphasises even more the role Catherine has played in influencing women in Kenya! 

You can view the list of previous winners here

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!

Catherine Ndereba responds to her fans!

Catherine responds to all the prayers and well-wishes from her fans posting on Facebook and the blog here!

Catherine speaks to the fans 

 

Update on Catherine Ndereba's schedule and....

Well, it looks like Catherine will not return to the US until the very end of the month. I wonder if the c-c-c-cold weather and snow had anything to do with her decision on where to run a warm up half marathon this year! She will be running in Lisbon on March 21st, the same day as the NYC Half Marathon that she has been so successful at in past years. Hopefully the weather in Lisbon will be a bit warmer than NY!

Meanwhile, another Ndereba will be in NYC for the Half Marathon! Catherine's younger brother, Samuel, will be running this year! You may be able to pick Samuel out in a crowd if you know Catherine; there is a VERY strong family resemblance between the two!

Catherine Ndereba (left) and brother Samuel Ndereba (right) flank Ryan Hall 

 Philadelphia Distance Run 2009

(In fact, if you've ever gone through the photos here and on our website www.wincatherine.com you'll notice a strong family resemblance among many of the Ndereba siblings!) Also running in the NYC Half Marathon this year are two other athletes from the Lisa Buster camp that train with Catherine in the US; Irene Limika and Moses Kigen Kipkosgei.

That is a popular weekend for races. It also happens to be the same weekend as a new event in Philadelphia this year: "World Water Day" 5k Run/Walk-A-Thon which benefits KSM whose mission is to provide clean drinking water to the Rift Valley area in Kenya.  You can check out that event here: http://ksmministries.com/ . We wish them the best of luck with this inaugural event for such a great cause!

Now a word about something I don't post about here very often. We are really struggling for donations to get WinCatherine completed. Even though we've shot a lot of footage, we are still a long way from being finished. We still have a LOT of film to edit and do not have the funds to put our editor back to work! Now we are planning to film Catherine in Boston for the Boston Marathon and need to raise some money very quickly in order to pay for that shoot. PLEASE consider a donation, no matter how small! You can donate via our website for a tax deduction at www.wincatherine.com/donate.html or if the tax deduction is not important to you, please donate directly to the film (we keep the entire amount of direct donations)

WinCatherine

c/o Sparklinblue Productions

533 Dogwood Drive

Maple Glen, PA  19002

If you can't help at this time, please suggest to others who may be able to!

Thank you for your help!

Catherine Ndereba Chief Guest at Awards Gala

Yet another example of Catherine's appeal to the youth; she was the Chief Guest at The Annual Sports and Clubs Awards at Strathmore University in Nairobi last Friday more...
Lucky students!  Also great for Catherine because she thrives on encouraging students of all ages; if she weren't a professional athlete she would have been a teacher and I'm sure as great a teacher as she is a runner!

What Kenyan Runners Wear

Here's a fun blog entry from MessagefromMzungo

If you are moving through the highlands of Kenya and in particular the epicentre of long distance running, the Rift Valley Province, you quickly get familiar with the strong green and brown environment. The dirt roads and the beautiful scenery of trees and fields give the general impression of a naturally rich environment. Your eyes soon get used to the typical colours and shades of this extraordinary piece of nature.....read more here

More info on the football tournament sponsored by Catherine Ndereba

Catherine Ndereba & husband Anthony Muhia Maina during a vist to Karatina, Central Province Kenya

 

I was curious about this event that Catherine is sponsoring so I asked her about it. She provides uniforms and balls for the players. But I wanted to know even more so I spoke with her husband, Anthony, about it because he is one of the organizers. This is not the first year they have been involved with this tournament. The first year was three years ago but there was no tournament last year due to a tragedy; the man who was the on site organizer and coordinator was struck by a car and killed. Therefore the tournament was not held. This year Anthony is heavily involved in the organizing. I wanted to know why he and Catherine were involved with football. This is what Anthony had to say:

 

"The soccer tourny is all about bringing the youth together and encourage them to be involved in active livelihood. In Kenya today we are faced with stiff challenges of unemployment and therefore the young guys get involved in risky behavior. One of the ways of keeping them active both mentally and physically is through sports and that's why the tourny. The tourny will be done in play offs and the semis will be done on 27th Dec and Finals on the 3rd Jan 2010 at Miiri primary school.(Not very far from my parents place)"

 

I was not surprised when I heard his answer; whether it is running, football (soccer), basketball or baseball, involving young people in sports is so instrumental in keeping them out of trouble. It is not unlike in the United States where involving children and young adults helps keep them from joining gangs and going down the wrong path. I recalled an incident in Kenya, (in the same area where this football tournament will be held), back in April just before my crew and I arrived in Kenya for filming with Catherine.  I'd heard that there was a clash near where Anthony grew up, and his parents still live, involving the Mungiki sect, known as Kenya's version of the Mafia. I was horrified and even worried whether or not it would be safe to travel there. You can read about the Mathira Massacre as it is known here: Mathira Massacre  It is exactly this type of group that Catherine and Anthony hope to help young men avoid by involving them in sports.When young people have enough to fill their time they are less likely to go out looking for things to do which often results in poor choices being made!

 

Speaking Out

I spoke with Catherine on Monday after she returned home from Nyeri and I asked her how the half marathon went. She said it went well but that she was very disappointed that the turnout this year was much smaller than in years past. She noted that there were several other races too close to this one which prevented many athletes from competing there. She was interviewed after the race and she called on AK (Athletics Kenya, the governing body for track and field in Kenya) to do something about spreading out the events so they don't occur so close to one another. I don't know that she expected the reply that came from AK head Isiah Kiplagat today (read article). I will be sure to ask her thoughts on that the next time I speak with her! I can't wait to see the footage our crew filmed there!

You can see some of her television interview here: (love her new hairdo!) Catherine Ndereba @ Nyeri Half Marathon

Farewell for now dinner...11/12/09

I really should have posted this a few weeks ago when it actually occured but I somehow missed it. I guess with all the postings on Facebook and twitter I neglected to post to the blog! Anyway, better late than never because I think everyone will enjoy some of these photos.

Three days before Catherine was to leave for Japan she invited me to dinner at the home where she lives while training in the United States several months each year (Norristown, PA). Most of the other athletes that normally share the house had already returned home to Kenya having finished their racing seasons before Catherine. There was only one other athlete still living in the house, Kellen. It was a great time for Catherine to spend some time with her best friend, Helen, who lives a few hours away in Maryland. They are extremely close (you may remember seeing Helen in some photos posted from our filming last year) and they used to train together. Helen is great; she's funny, smart and she and Catherine pray together almost every day and they can call each other any time even if it is in the middle of the night. They just don't get to spend much physcial time together because of the distance and Catherine's race schedules. Oh, and I forgot to mention, because Helen makes it so easy to forget, she is blind. You'd never know it though. She talks about "I have to see this" or "I loved the pictures; thanks for sending them" and she is an amazing person. She's also a very talented runner and has both bronze and silver medals in the Para-Olympics. Anyway, the point is not that she is blind, it is that she does not let it define who she is; similar to how Catherine did not let the village people define who she was as a young girl.

So, Catherine called me up to invite me and in order to entice me said she was making Mokimo; as if she needed to bribe me to come visit! Catherine's Mokimo is a real treat. It is her favorite meal and she doesn't make it very often while in the US so I was quite flattered to be invited! When I arrived, she and Helen were upstairs and when they came down, Catherine went to work making the preparations for the Mokimo.  
Catherine prepping the Mokimo

 



  














 only fresh ingredients

catching up with Helen

Making Mokimo the way Catherine likes it is hard work! It seemed like she mashed forever and her arm even got tired! (She said she's out of "Mokimo-making-shape" living in the US!)

I always have so much fun just hanging out with both Helen and Catherine; they are like two little giggly school girls! Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy being with Catherine but when the crew isn't around and we're not filming, there is a different level of relaxation and we all just revert into gigly schoolgirls. We had a blast and there were times that the two of them would slip into Swahili and Kellen and I would just watch them laughing and talking. I teased Catherine that we needed to take lots of photos for me to post on Facebook to tease her husband that the Mokimo was ready and make and waiting for him!

it's ready, come and get it!

 yummy!

Catherine and I shared a story with Helen (that I won't go into) but it had to do with an "interesting" day of filming a few months ago back in Catherine's hometown and the laughter was just incredible! We all know the public Catherine and how graceful, poised and humble she is but I wanted to share a more personal side of Catherine with the world which is one of the reasons I am making the film WinCatherine! I hope you enjoy the photos!

L to R: Kellen, Helen, Catherine

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)

Another Race Weekend Approaching!

The Philadelphia Distance Run is almost here and Catherine will be running as well as several other of her housemates in Norristown, PA. The athletes from Lisa's "camp" who will run this coming Sunday, September 20th are: Catherine Ndereba (37), her brother, Samuel Ndereba (32), Caroline Chepkorir (22), Neriah Asiba (28), and Irene Limika (30). Neriah and Irene both ran this race last year as did Catherine. Catherine will be looking to win at this race for the 6th time! Last year she placed second.

The half marathon is a good training run for the athletes who will be competing in a fall marathon in a few weeks. Catherine's fall marathon has not been announced yet but as soon as I am able, I will post it!

As for the Philadelphia Distance Run, the athletes in Norristown love the race especially since it is so close to their second home!

NYC Half Marathon 2009

It was still dark when I got up at 3:45am knowing I had to meet Catherine and Lisa at their hotel by 5:30am. I wanted to be sure I either found a taxi or caught a subway in time even though at that hour I figured there would be less traffic than normal. Somehow I made it out the door by 4:35, got to the main avenue and caught a taxi right away and was at their hotel by 4:50 am! Better early than late! I ran into two guys, must have been in their early or mid twenties, who had just gotten in from a long night of partying! They saw my equipment and asked what I was doing so I told them that I was there to film a runner for the half marathon. They had no clue there was a race about to take place but they were intrigued. They asked me if the runner was "any good". I had to supress a chuckle and told them a little about Catherine. They wanted to stay to see her but it was really early and she wasn't due downstairs until 5:30 and they decided it was time to get to their room before they passed out. It was an amusing start to the day!

Around 5:25 I went to Catherine's room and she was just about ready to meet her fellow athletes in the lobby to catch the bus to the offices of the New York Road Runners (NYRR). I followed Catherine, Lisa and Hosea to the bus and we were taken to NYRR along with the other elite runners. It was here that the athletes picked up their race bags where they would put the items in that they wanted at the finish line. They also put their numbers on their bibs and made sure their trackers were on their shoes. Once that was taken care of many of the runners warmed up by jogging laps around the block until it was time to go to the start.

The start of the race was at Central Park East Drive at 87th street and there was a sea of people milling around, looking for where to drop their bags, where to line up, saying goodbye to loved ones and stretching, drinking and chatting. It was so full of energy and at such an early hour! It wasn't even 7am! I missed following the elite athletes to the start so Lisa and I ended up running through thousands of people to get to where they were. There were "corrals" set up and where we came in was at the very back. We ran through all of the different corrals and it was probably close to a half mile into the course that we found the actual starting line!

Finally it was time for some ceremony and Mary Wittenberg got up on a podium and introduced the three headline female athletes: Catherine, Paula Radcliffe and Deena Kastor. They each spoke to the crowd and acknowledged how good it was to be there. Then they all lined up. It was awesome to see the three of them standing there waiting to hear the gun. Then they heard it and off they went. I stayed for a minute until they were out of sight and then had to race to get on the bus so we could get to the finish in time, before the atheltes!

We had a police escort to make sure we made it but it was the slowest ride you can imagine! Jane Monti, who is one of the key people involved in organizing for NYRR, finally had to get out of the bus at a red light and ask the officer in the lead car if he could speed it up a bit! He did and we got there in time. I set up at the finish line and waited. We did not have a live feed to see the race so had to rely on some updates that came over a speaker now and then. I have to say it is quite exciting standing there waiting for the runners to cross that finish line. The men first; Ethiopian Tadese Tola defended his title and the other men started to come in after him: Morocco's Ridouane Harroufi second and American Ryan Hall third. (I briefly interviewed Ryan and he is such a nice guy; I'm glad he did well!)

Finally the first woman could be seen in the distance and it was Paula Radcliffe. She was running to see if she was fit enough to run at the World Championships in Berlin next week! She won the race (1:09:50) by a good margin. Then came Mamitu Daska (ETH) in 1:11:04 and then I saw Catherine coming down the stretch. She placed third (1:11:56). As each of the top three men and women came in, they were draped in their country's flag and then took a victory lap back down the last leg of the course where they hi-fived fans and you could hear the cheers from afar.

Of course after the race many people would ask Catherine if she was disappointed in placing third and as always, her answer was no. She was quick to congratulate the other women ahead of her and happy to have accomplished what she did!

As Catherine was cooling down, a young American girl walked up to her and they exchanged congratulations. I was immediately struck by the way she looked up to Catherine; you could see the admiration in her eyes. I knew I had to speak to her. I learned her name is Ilsa Paulson and she is a very young but up and coming athlete who has been very inspired by Catherine. I spoke with her and also with her parents and her parents told me how Ilsa meeting Catherine last year has been so instrumental in her own development as not only an athlete but as a person. It turns out that Ilsa is very religious and felt a calling from God to pursue her running so she dropped out of college and moved to NY to train full time and run. Her parents are extremely supportive of her but Ilsa has found that some of the other athletes are not as supportive. Some feel she should have stayed in school and done the college track and field route and some do not approve of her devotion to her religion. But meeting Catherine inspired her to stay true to her own beliefs and live her life in what ever way is right for her. It was truly awesome to hear how much this young girl has been inspired by Catherine. She considers Catherine her role model in so many ways and I am so fortunate to have met Ilsa for both the benefit of the film as well as myself. This young girl was the first American woman to cross the finish line, placing 6th just ahead of Deena Kastor who placed 7th!

Finally it was time for the awards and people were lining the park near the finish area. There was music and people dancing in the grass and it was a very festive time! The weather was a bit hot and humid but there was no rain so it was great! Awards were given to the top ten men and top ten women. Young children from a local running club presented the top 3 prizes; 3 boys to the men and 3 girls to the women. They were adorable. Some of the winners threw their flowers to the crowd but Catherine did not. She followed the little girl that presented her with her award and handed the flowers to her. The look on the little girl's face was priceless. Catherine spoke to her and asked her to promise to work hard in her training and do well in school.


After the ceremonies were finished, the athletes hopped on the bus and went back to their hotel. Catherine did her usual soak in the tub and packed up to go but when she went to the athletes lounge she got a little sidetracked. Ryan Hall was sitting on the sofa with some very strange "pants" on! It turns out that the race doctor had these pants that look almost like a cross between a space suit and hockey goalie pads and they are attached to a hose and a pressure system. The pants contract and expand and massage the legs. Catherine wanted to try it so she hung around and waited for Ryan's session to end. Watching Catherine get into this pant-like contraption was hysterical. They looked like they would swallow her up but, once it started working she really liked it!

Finally it was time to go, but before heading back to Philadelphia, Catherine and Hosea wanted to stop for lunch at their favorite Italian Restaurant. After lunch, it was time to get to the train. Catherine stopped a few times along the street to look at handbags because it just isn't right not to stop and look! She absolutely loves to shop!

The train ride home was crowded so we each sat separately but we were all exhausted and glad to have some quiet time. As I left Lisa, Catherine and Hosea I knew I could look forward to next month when Catherine would once again run the Philadelphia Distance Run. I'm still feeling inspired from meeting Ilsa and her parents and knowing how much she has been inspired by Catherine!

Double Ndereba at the 2009 Asics British London 10K!

2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET



Well, today was definitely a great day in London for the Ndereba's! Catherine won the ladies 10k race,
2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

running a good part of the time with friend and competitor Constantina Dita
(who came in third) but it was Catherine's younger brother, Cyrus, who made the victory a Double Ndereba!


2009 Photos: Victah Sailer@Photo Run Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

I last saw Cyrus at Nyayo Stadium when he was visiting his siblings during the Kenya Prisons Championships where another sister, Anastasia, was running for the Prisons Staff Training College, Catherine was running in the 5K and Jane Murage was running the Steeplechase. It was where we were fortunate to film a mini family reunion. The week before, when I interviewed Cyrus after the Sotokoto Safari Marathon we learned that he has been wanting to run outside of Kenya and even to come to the US and train with Catherine and other brother Samuel, but he hasn't been able to get a Visa to do so yet. Athletics Kenya requires athletes run a certain amount in Europe and develop wins there. Hopefully by winning this 10k race today it will help his quest of obtaining that visa! It would be awesome to see all four running Ndereba's here in the US training at the same time one day! Anastasia should graduate from Prison Training School by September and then she will have to fulfill a commitment of service for a certain time period before leaving for the US to train again but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later that Catherine, Samuel, Anastasia and Cyrus will all be in the US together!

Now that the race is finished, Catherine will head back to the US with Lisa and for now Cyrus will have to return home to Kenya.


2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

Results of the 2009 Asics British London 10k
Men

1 Cyrus Ndereba-KEN 30:19
2 Ryan McKinlay-ENG 32:06
3 Luca Tassarotti-ITA 32:15

Women

1 Catherine Ndereba-KEN 33:54
2 Kat Grimmett-ENG 34:19
3 Constantina Dita-ROM 34:30

The Return to Roots

Friday May 15^th, 2009

I woke up thinking it was morning only to find my watch said 1:03am! I woke up every two hours and finally got up 10 minutes before my alarm was scheduled to ring at 4:30am. I got up (and made sure I had socks on before walking on the floor) and got ready for a shoot that needed to take place at sunrise. We got to our van and there was no driver to be found; I had to call and let him know we were all waiting for him; (he said his alarm didn’t go off but I wasn’t happy because we couldn’t afford to miss the sunrise!) We left Nyeri and drove back to the little shopping center near Kahira Ini and when we arrived there was already a whole group of students from the school waiting watch us film and this was 5:45am!

We filmed a segment with 2 young girls and then dropped them off at Ngorano Secondary school. (The primary school was closed because they were scheduled to have a track meet with the surrounding primary schools and it was being held at the secondary school field). It was no short distance from where we were shooting to where this track meet was being held, yet all of the other kids had to walk and arrive by the start of the meet! It really is amazing how far these children walk on a daily basis but then it's no surprise when they learn to run well to get to places more quickly! We ran (in our car!) back Karatina to have breakfast and then returned to Ngorano to film there for the day. We were initially supposed to film at Kahira Ini in the morning but they found out they had the track meet and had to postpone. We rearranged our shooting schedule to accommodate that event so went to Ngorano Secondary School instead. The athletic director there had arranged for some of Catherine’s classmates to be there as well as a former teacher and a former cook. It was really cool to talk to them and learn more about Catherine. I interviewed all of them and waited for Catherine and Anthony to arrive. When they did, it was obvious that Catherine was surprised to see former classmates! She seemed to enjoy reminiscing with them and we learned some fun tidbits :-)

We ended up staying there much later than I had anticipated and they prepared lunch for everyone as well. Kenyans are extremely hospitable and it is considered an insult if you are invited to tea or a meal and can not accept. The former classmates helped to serve and we all had lunch together including some of the current teachers.

After lunch we set off with the athletic director in search of Mr. Wambugu, the former headmaster of Ngorano who had great influence on Catherine's life but whom she had not seen since graduating. She wanted to surprise him with a visit. The athletic director said he knew where to find Mr. Wambugu, that it was not far outside of Nyeri but after 2 hours we still had not arrived at the place where he supposedly was. It seemed as if we drove for ages without seeing anything and then we finally reached a tiny town! keeping spirits up on the long drive!

at least it was pretty!

After a half hour of inquiries, we learned that Mr. Wambugu had moved and no one knew where he was. It was disappointing not to be able to capture Catherine reuniting with one of her mentors and it also took the remainder of the day and it was too late to do anything else, but at least the scenery was beautiful and we got some great footage at the secondary school today! I'm looking forward to filming at Kahira Ini tomorrow, Saturday.

Back in Kenya again!

Monday morning came quickly and it was time to go back to Kenya! I was very excited and had been looking forward to getting back since I left. I still didn’t feel 100% prepared but also knew that I had to just jump in and force myself to get it done! Once again we flew British Airways and this plane was even nicer than the previous! Business class has seats that recline into beds and it is a really nice way to travel! It is how Catherine travels which is good because it allows her to sleep as well as not have to sit in a cramped position. The flight was great and we even landed early. Waiting at the airport were two people: One was the driver for the place Jon and I were staying, Wasini Luxury Homes and the other was Willy, our sound technician for the length of our stay. Since Anthony and Jane would not be flying in until 6:30am on Tuesday, Catherine needed a ride home so I asked Willy if he would give her a ride. Technically I had contracted for him to begin today, the 27th but this way he would know how to get to her house since he will be our driver as well while we are here. So off he went with Catherine and we piled our bags into the van to Wasini. I should mention another great aspect of flying business class is that you are allowed to have 3 checked bags and two carry ons so we needed it with our equipment!

We arrived at our home for the next 5 weeks and it was great! Wasini Luxury Homes is operated very similar to a hotel but they are apartments. We have a two bedroom apartment with one large bathroom that has a Jacuzzi tub, living room/dining room area and a kitchen. It is also fully service which means we have someone come in and clean daily as well as replace our towels with fresh ones. I took the master bedroom and Jon the other (one of the perks of being the boss!). They are pretty similar but I think the master bed is a tad larger ;-). We settled in and got some sleep knowing we would have a long day on Tuesday.

Flora London Marathon

On Saturday we headed to The Tower where Catherine and crew relocated so they could be where needed Sunday morning early for the race. After they got settled into their room we were able to watch Lisa decorate Catherine’s bottles for along the race route. We later would film Catherine as she prepared them with endure and water and taste tested them before dropping them off with the race officials. Each elite athlete must submit their course bottles at a certain time before the race so they are monitored and not tampered with before the start. On Sunday morning we had to be at The Tower by 6:45 am to film Catherine board the bus en route to the start. Unfortunately, the race directors would not give us credentials to film Anthony and Jane at the finish line; something to do with privacy of the other athletes. I was extremely disappointed as this was one of the main reasons for coming to London in the first place; once again capture the enormous support Catherine receives from her husband as well as Lisa and Mostafa. Lisa ended up being offered a spot on the lead vehicle and not wanting to insult anyone she accepted it. She said it is not a great place to watch a race because you only see the lead runners so if your runner is not in that group you have no way of communicating to find out! She ended up texting me and I kept her informed when she needed an update; Jon and I watched from the press center and had access to all of that information. Catherine stayed at the back of the pack as she usually does but she did not seem to ever really make a “move”. The race was really between three runners for much of it; Irina, Chunxiu and a British runner, Mara Yamouchi. Along the way Chunxiu Zhou fell back but Catherine was still just comfortably in the lead of the second pack just over two minutes behind the two leaders. She finished in 7^th place and then Lisa texted me that Catherine was on her way to see a podiatrist, alerting us that they would not be heading right back. It turns out that at around 15k Catherine said she felt something on her foot but she didn’t pay attention to it. By 25k she was in much discomfort and pain but dropping out was never even a thought. She still turned in a respectable time at just over 2:26! The doc bandaged up her foot and all of the elite athletes returned to the hotel via bus and water taxi because so many roads were closed. We caught up to everyone as they docked at the pier by the hotel and we followed Catherine back to her room where we were able to see her foot. She showered and then we followed her back down to the media centre for lunch. When she was interviewed she didn’t even mention her foot injury to the reporters! She was gracious as always and congratulated the winners and stated that today it was their day. Catherine was approached by many reporters as she finished lunch and was very accommodating to each. Jane, however, was completely bored. Still trying to break the ice I thought back to what I liked to do as a kid. I asked her if she’d like to draw and she perked up and said yes. I got her a pen and paper and she now had something to do! I still wanted to get to know her even better so I told her about when I was younger how I was always embarrassed to loan people my notes because I had little drawings of people in all the margins! I drew one of my “creations” for her and she was so impressed (glad to know someone was!) She tried to duplicate it and ended up doing a really cool job on her own! I felt as if maybe we had made a little progress. As much as I would have liked to hang out and get to know her better, I still had interviews to conduct! I arranged to interview Sean Hartnett who had been involved with Kenyan runners for many years and many of the Kenyans call him “Professor of Marathon” (he is actually a geography teacher at University of Wisconsin. He used to run marathons, has been writing for US Track and Field for many years. It was very interesting talking to him as he has followed Catherine’s career as well as many others.

When we finished with Sean we spoke with another man who had just run his first marathon. He and his wife watched my interview with Constantina previously and we spoke with them after. I was curious to see how he did and we got a quick interview as well. He is a very charming man with a big smile and even better attitude so it was great to hear him talk about completing his first marathon! His name is David Wright and he is a former PGA golf pro from New Zealand and he and his wife is a lovely couple. If I ever get to visit New Zealand I know I have a place to stay AND they have St. Bernard dogs to top it all off! J It was now past 6pm and the elite athletes as well as other invited ones were getting ready to head out to their post race party. Jon and I were exhausted and knew we needed to still pack before leaving in the morning.

We charted our way back to our hotel via the tube and got the tapes downloading from a good day. Around 8 we headed out and found a cute Italian restaurant that had a good special. After dinner I told Jon I would meet him back at the hotel because I wanted to hit an ATM so I could pay the taxi to the airport in the morning. I went to the Barclay’s Bank because they are international. I put my card in and could not figure out how to operate the machine. Now I’m no dummy; I tried touching the screen to make my selections, that didn’t work. I tried everything I could and still could not figure out how to operate the screen! You would think it would be easy or that there would be instructions. Eventually it asked if I wanted more time and since I could not figure out how to answer it, I thought it would just spit my card back at me. NOT! That $#%*#&$*# machine ATE MY ATM card at 9:40PM the night before I was due at the airport at 8:30am!!! I kept myself calm and called their 24 hour number at which time I was told that I had to call MY bank in the US. HUH? What good would that do me? They are 5 hours behind and I was due to fly out the next morning to Kenya! It was useless; I got the good ole deaf ear and ended up using another ATM machine across the street to get enough to pay the taxi driver in the morning. Fortunately, I had my personal ATM card as well. Unfortunately, it left a bad taste in my mouth of London!