Women's Press Conference-London Marathon Race Week

This morning we had to be at The Tower hotel by 10:30 for the press conference that was to start at 11:30am but we had not met our sound technician yet so we met him at our hotel for breakfast at 8:30am. We discussed how the day would go and then he and Jon worked on getting their equipment all set. We took a taxi to The Tower because we had a lot of equipment to carry and we did not want to be late. We planned on filming Catherine once she arrived at the hotel. Anthony and Jane I thought were due to arrive on Friday (because Anthony had a final exam for one of his classes on Thursday). We got to the hotel and set up our camera and sound equipment and I went off to find Lisa, Mostafa and Catherine. I went up to the Athletes’ Lounge and walk in looking for them. All of a sudden I see Anthony at the coffee station and I had to take a double-take! I was shocked to see him and then I saw Jane already sitting at a table having breakfast. Evidently, Anthony’s flight was already scheduled for Wednesday by the Flora London Marathon and it couldn’t be changed so he arrived yesterday. I “met” Jane and I say that because I had not seen her since she was a little girl with bows in her braids and here she was a beautiful young lady! She was very shy at first because not only did she not remember me from all those years ago but I was the one who was there to film her mother AND HER! She does NOT like the camera; not even a little! I had a feeling I was going to be in for a very rough time but was determined to win her trust. I did not want to start off on the wrong foot so just introduced myself and let her know that we would not push her. The Athletes’ Lounge was a virtual who’s who in the marathon world. After socializing for a bit it was time to get down to the press conference. There were two separate rounds of women on the podium for reporters to question and the first group included last year’s London Marathon winner Irina Mikitenko, Olympic bronze medalist Chunxiu Zhou, Olympic gold medalist Constantina Dita and Catherine. After the press conference the athletes broke away into different corners of the room and journalists were allowed to interview them. I wanted to interview Irina and Zhou but unfortunately I was unable to get to Irina because I was waiting for Zhou. Each reporter was supposed to have five minutes but there were two in front of me that went on for almost 20 minutes so I finally had to excuse myself to get in! She had a translator with her so I had to ask the question and wait for her to understand it and then have the answer translated. She was extremely confident that when she is in her best shape that no one can beat her. I was surprised at how assured she was and figure that most top athletes need to have that sense of self confidence. I was not trying to get an interview with Constantina at that time because I had already arranged a private interview through her manager.

After the press conference there was a photo op for all the journalists outside of the hotel by the river. It was a beautiful location and I was also able to catch a quick interview with Gete Wami, the Ethiopian runner who was the female winner of the first World Marathon Majors, a competition comprised of 6 major marathon events in which the athletes accumulate points over the course of two years. The man and woman with the most points at the end of the participating events win $500,000!

After the photo op we had lunch and I was able to chat with Jane a little bit and then we arranged our interview with Constantina Dita. We sat down over coffee and had a nice interview; she is so nice and it was interesting to hear her talk about balancing her life as an international athlete as well as a mother. I can certainly sympathize with all of the women who have to leave their children behind in order to pursue their careers! I have been having a lot of mixed emotions about being away at this time of year because so much will happen over the next month with my own kids (Rob’s 18^th birthday, Eric’s 21^st birthday, senior class trip, senior prom, etc, etc, etc) Anyway, it was a good interview and was late in the day so time to head on back to the hotel. Jon wanted to go to the race expo so I headed back with our sound tech, IP. When we got back to the hotel we downloaded his audio files and then I had dinner with Lisa, Mostafa, Catherine, Anthony and Jane at a nice little Italian restaurant near the hotel. I still had work to do to plan the next day so I finished working after I got back to the hotel.

Arrival in London

I know this entry is long overdue! It has been such a hectic trip that I have not had a lot of time to catch up and when I do, I usually fall asleep at the keyboard! So here goes:

My DP for the trip, Jon Dunham, arrived on Monday night having come straight from the Boston Marathon where he was promoting his film The Spirit of the Marathon. On Tuesday night we traveled to London via British air and they were kind enough to put us in business class so we could film Catherine. I will say that this is definitely the way to travel and it will certainly be very difficult to ever fly coach again. J Unfortunately we had to sit on the runway in Philadelphia for awhile due to bad weather but the flight was great and we arrived in London on Wednesday morning. We ended up having to wait on the tarmac for 45 minutes in a bus because there was some “police activity” on the plane; evidently there was a dispute between a few passengers about some missing money so they wouldn’t let anyone move on to customs/baggage claim until they sorted things out. We finally got out of the airport and went to our hotel. We stayed at The Royal Lancaster hotel which is in Hyde Park because Catherine likes to stay in that part of town so she can train in the Park. Unfortunately, they somehow lost Catherine, Lisa and Mostafa’s reservations so they ended up at a different hotel across the street. But I will say that the Royal Lancaster is definitely a lovely place. They really spoil you to the extent that you have “biscuits” in your room at all times and a heated towel rack! That’s right, in the shower, on the far wall is a heated towel rack so the towels were always nice and toasty! But I digress….once we got situated it was time to get to the Tower Hotel which was where the headquarters for the Flora London Marathon were. I wanted to be sure we had our credentials lined up to best capture Catherine, Anthony, Jane, Lisa and Mostafa during race week. There really was no direct way get to this place; it seemed to be at the complete opposite end of the city from where we were. We learned how to take the “tube” and found our way somewhere nearby and then just walked the rest of the way. London was certainly not what I expected weather-wise! It was beautiful and sunny and we made it to the hotel and picked up our credentials. We poked around a bit to plan for some interviews would conduct during the week and then headed out. The hotel is situated at the base of the Tower Bridge which is a beautiful bridge. There was a water taxi so we decided to try to find our way back to our hotel via the Thames River. It was a nice ride and we got off at a stop where we thought would be near to a tube station but I wanted to get a simm card for my Kenyan cell phone; (my blackberry wouldn’t work there but the Kenyan phone uses simm cards) We found one and then found a cute little crepe place and had dinner before heading back to the hotel. I had to prepare some interviews for the next morning because we were scheduled to follow Catherine to the women’s press conference. The time difference was 5 hours ahead of Philadelphia so it had been a very long day since leaving Philly after 11pm Tuesday night (original departure was 9pm) and only few hours sleep on the flight so by 2am I was exhausted!

Preparing to Leave for....

It was almost a year ago that I wrote that first title and so much has happened in that year! It is now time to move forward with more filming even though the money has not been raised yet. The timing is right and on Tuesday I leave to follow Catherine to London for the Flora London Marathon where she will compete among a very talented field. All three medalists from the Olympics will be there as well as other champions so it will be exciting. Anthony and Jane (Catherine's husband and daughter) will arrive later in the week and support Catherine along with Lisa and Mostafa. While in London I will interview some of the other elite athletes from around the world. After London my cinematographer and I will follow Catherine back to Kenya where we will be until May 31st filming her daily life, her family, and many others. I am so excited to be going back to Kenya! I really loved it there; the people were so welcoming, the country is beautiful and I can't wait to see the night sky in the out-lying villages again! Stay tuned for details; I'll try to be as detailed as last year but with so much work to get done I can't promise so you'll have to just keep checking back! ;-)

London Warm up

Good luck Catherine tomorrow at the Fortis City-Pier-City Run half marathon in the Hague, Netherlands!

Here it is!

Here is a link to the fundraising trailer for WinCatherine: The Story of Wincatherine Nyambura Ndereba. Please feel free to post comments!

http://vimeo.com/2469308

Back to Kenya

Well, the time has finally come to get on with the production side of things. I have my business plan and proposal ready and just need to work on a pitch to go out and find the money to make this film and do it justice! I am planning to go over to London for the London Marathon and interview some of the other elite athletes there, then follow Catherine back home to Kenya and film there for a month. (providing I can come up with the necessary funds quickly enough!)
I can't wait to get back! I really loved it there. I especially can't wait to get back to where her parents live, where I witnessed the most amazing sky ever! I plan on capturing that sky for the film so you will get to see it as well if you've never been there! I also hope to be able to spend a little more time with Catherine and her family!

I will post a link to the fundraising trailer so you can all view it. Of course, if you know anyone who would be interested and able to help out, please don't hesitate to send them my way ;-)

Catherine is in training for the London Marathon and I'm looking forward to seeing her again soon. There is a very strong field lined up for this event so it will be an exciting race!

Stay tuned for more details on the return trip.

Update: First Post of 2009

Happy New Year! (ok, so I’m a little late!)I realize it has been awhile since I last posted and I have been working behind the scenes to put together the fundraising trailer (check back to view this soon), business plan and proposal that will lead to raising the money needed to make this film! I am dedicated to making sure this happens because I really believe this story needs to be told! The more I learn about Kenya and Catherine's journey to get to where she is from where she came from, the more I am convinced of this. In a country where education for women was not a given right as it is here in the US, where opportunities for girls were nowhere near equal to those for boys and where athletics for girls was certainly not a priority, Catherine's perseverance in her goals is an inspiration. How lucky girls are here in the United States to have Title IX! I'm sure many people don't even know what Title IX is and like myself, just take it for granted that girls are entitled to the same opportunities as boys, even if that doesn't always happen. But it actually is the law!

I have always known that Billie Jean King has been a pioneer in making sure women and girls have equal opportunities in sports and prize money in professional sports. I've always been a huge tennis fan and used to play a lot of tennis so I was familiar with her efforts and her organization, The Women's Sports Foundation. But it wasn't until last year that I really learned the extent of how far the U.S. has come in assuring that girls have equal opportunity in education and sports when I became aware of Title IX.

Today I attended a press conference at City Hall in Philadelphia called V is for Victory. So is IX. First of all, I have lived in Philadelphia all my life and I don’t think I have ever been inside City Hall. The press conference was held in the Mayor’s Reception Room and it was a magnificent room! Everything about it, including the ceiling, was just beautiful. There were paintings of all the previous mayors and a gold-plated chandelier that I just researched and learned is 8’3” and weighs 1680 pounds!(ok you can read more about the room on your own here: http://www.ajaxelectric.com/cityhall/tour7.htm" Anyway, back to the press conference. It was to announce a "new national campaign aimed to educate students, parents, and administrators on Title IX, the federal law banning sex-discrimination in schools." The following is from the official press release: The Women's Sports Foundation and the Women's Law Project are working together to help students, parents, coaches, athletic directors, administrators and community leaders advocate for equal treatment in school and community sports programs. This project will focus on evaluating sports programs and in taking the necessary steps to achieve athletic equity.
Wow. I know I, for one, have always taken for granted that girls were to have the same opportunities as boys in sports. I always knew that the boys had more teams than the girls when I was younger, and I don't remember having all the intramural sports and township sports that my kids had in school, but I knew there were plenty of teams that girls could try out for. I always played tennis. I played on my high school team. I played little league. I had opportunities. Maybe it was because I grew up in the suburbs. Or, maybe it was because Title IX was passed in 1972 and I was only eleven years old and didn't even know that I was benefiting from it. Yes, I took it for granted. But as with all freedoms we enjoy, I now know that there was a reason I was able to benefit, that there were girls and women before me who fought for the rights I enjoyed. And still are. There are still schools where girls do not have the same opportunities as boys, or the same equipment, playing fields, practice time or coaching as the boys. And, federal law mandates this must be equal.
Some people may ask why it is so important to have sports in our schools. What is the big deal? It’s just games. But it is SO much more than that. It has been proven that athletics is more than just fun and games. There are lower rates of depression and suicide among girls who are involved in sports.It has been proven that being involved in athletics decreases the likelihood of smoking, drug use, obesity, drop outs and teen pregnancy. Being involved in athletics leads to greater self confidence, self esteem and body image. It helps in learning time management skills and setting goals. Athletics creates more opportunities for girls to attend college through sports scholarships. These are all important tools for academic and professional success and insuring that girls become valuable and productive members of society. Wow! I can only think of what Kenya could be with a Title IX!

Which brings me back to Catherine; these are all reasons why Catherine speaks to children in Kenya and encourages them to stay in school, pursue their education and why she wants all children to have the opportunity to pursue sports. At Q&A sessions at marathons around the world, she speaks to adults and children about the benefits of participating in sports. Because of the example Catherine has set for other young girls growing up in Kenya, there are more girls pursuing sports and even believing that they can earn a living through athletics. The young girls that you have read about in my blog and come here from Kenya to train in Norristown (outside of Philadelphia) cite Catherine as their role model and are thankful that she has paved the way for them to have careers in running.

At the press conference today, I listened to the various speakers talk about how Title IX has affected them or their children. I listened to Susan Slawson, Commissioner of Recreation for the City of Philadelphia talk about the city’s commitment to this campaign and to keeping girls active and healthy. She speaks from experience having been a teen mother and although she doesn’t regret having had a child, wonders if Title IX would have lead her down a different path. I listened to Carol Tracy, the Executive Director of the Women’s Law Project speak about the rights girls are entitled to and how there are still areas where there is non-compliance. It was inspiring to hear Carol Bower’s experience as a U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist in rowing and how sports affected her life. Because of Title IX, Christine Shimel was afforded the opportunity to play golf in high school and is the girls 2008 Pennsylvania High School State Golf Champion and has received a scholarship to attend the University of Maryland in the fall. And Lurline Jones, who for 27 years coached the inner city University City High girls basketball team, leading to an impressive 647-202 record and many championships, spoke about the number of her players who have gone on to become doctors and lawyers and have successful careers because their love for the game kept them in school, out of trouble and gave them the tools for success. It sounds like the education system in Kenya can learn a lot from examples such as these.

Pictured from left: Lurine Jones (Coaching Legend, University City High), Terri Lakowski(Women's Sports Foundation), Christine Shimel (Kennett H.S. Senior), Wilma McNabb (President, Professional Football Players Mother's Association, Executive Director, Donovan McNabb Foundation), Carol Tracy (Executive Director, Women's Law Project), Carol Bower (1984 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Rowing)

Probably the most recognizable name at the press conference was Wilma McNabb, mother of Philadelphia Eagles Donovan McNabb and a long time youth sports advocate. She understands the value of sports for children and wants to be sure that girls have the same opportunities as boys. Mrs. McNabb is also the Executive Director of the Donovan McNabb foundation which is dedicated to diabetes and she knows firsthand how important activity is in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Participation in athletics lays the groundwork for children to be active and why shouldn’t girls have the same opportunity as boys!

I now realize how lucky I am to have grown up with the benefits of Title IX. I think the goal of this campaign is great; reaching out to students, parents, coaches, athletic directors, administrators and community leaders to advocate for equal treatment in school and community sports programs. I can only imagine how much Kenya could benefit from having more women contributing to society outside of the home, with successful careers whether in sports or not, and earning an income. How wonderful to have girls involved in something that would reduce their risk of teen pregnancy, something that is quite common in Kenya.

Okay, I will step down from the soapbox now! I will say that it was a pleasure to meet everyone at the press conference yesterday, especially Wilma and Sam McNabb. They were both so nice and gracious and being that I’ve been a life-long Philadelphian and Eagles fan whose parents have had season tickets forever and who is the beneficiary of many of those tickets each year, it was really cool to meet them! I assured them I will be wearing my #5 jersey this weekend during the Super Bowl even though we didn’t quite make it!


Sam and Wilma McNabb

My website for the film is under construction and I will post it as soon as it is complete. I am hoping to get back to Kenya in late April following the London Marathon but of course this will all depend on the fundraising. Please feel free to contact me if you know of anyone who would be interested in helping with the funding of this project! :-)

In the meantime, you can find more information on the V is for Victory. So is IX. campaign at these two websites: www.vis4victory.org and www.vis4victory.org/girls

I hope one day WinCatherine: The Story of Wincatherine Nyambura Ndereba will inspire girls around the world, and in this country, make girls appreciate the opportunities that they have and how lucky they are!

NYC Marathon

After being away for a few days I'm back to work and thought I would take some time to update the blog since it has been awhile. While working on behind the scenes business items there is not usually much to report that would be both interesting to read about or write about!

On Thursday, October 30th I left for the Big Apple to prepare to capture some footage during the weekend of the ING New York City Marathon. Catherine's husband, Anthony, was to arrive on Friday morning in order to be there to support Catherine. He is now in school 5 nights a week working towards a masters degree, working full time and made the 19+ hour trek here. I wanted to get there the day before and hit the video store for some supplies before filming his arrival. His support of his wife is so great that he arrived on Friday morning and had to leave on Monday afternoon so he wouldn't miss too much school but could also be in New York for the marathon. To me that shows a total commitment and I wanted to capture that on film!

Anthony arrived on Friday around 2pm with his ever present smile beaming across his face! Despite his jet lag he was upbeat and genuinely glad to be there to support his wife! Their reunion was sweet and you could tell how happy Catherine was to have him there with her!

We had lunch in the hospitality suite along with Lisa, Mostafa and Hosea Roetich (who was also scheduled to run on Sunday)and I was amazed by all of the amazing athletes that would come in and out of the area. The field of elite runners signed on for this prestigious race was the strongest in the race's history and there were many others present who were not even running. I am always inspired by being in Catherine's presence and add to that some of the other biggest names in distance running. Almost all of these amazing athletes were very approachable; Lornah Kiplagat, (World Half Marathon record holder among many other titles) graciously allowed me to interview her and was very friendly, Tegla Laroupe (one of Catherine's role models), Deena Kastor (2004 Olympic Bronze medalist), freshly recovered from her unfortunate 2008 Olympic injury and just bubbly and adorable but not yet able to do a marathon; Contantina Dita (reigning Olympic gold medalist) who was so friendly and warm! I did not recognizer her when we first ran into her in the lobby; she was about to go out for a morning run the day of the marathon (she was not running because she had run the Chicago Marathon 2 weeks prior). Her hair was back and I told her that I did not recognize her without her hair down!

Mostafa, Constantina Dita, Lisa
Later when I saw her with her makeup on and her beautiful curly hair she was easily recognizable! Rita Jeptoo, another Kenyan distance runner, Martin Lel (winner of the NYC Marathon the previous two years who had to pull out this year two weeks ago due to a foot injury) was there as well as Paula Radcliffe. There were always warm greetings between Catherine and all of these athletes (except for Paula Radcliffe who kept to herself).

After lunch, Catherine went for a massage and I took Anthony for a Starbucks coffee that I had promised him before his arrival! He was completely jet-lagged but put was very valiant in his efforts to stay awake as long as possible! After the coffee I let him go back to the room and get some much needed rest! :) Lisa, Catherine and I went to get manicures and pedicures (I asked Anthony if he wanted to join us but he said he doesn't do "manicures" he would do a "womancure"!) Anyway, we had our nails done and then met Mostafa at a local Italian restaurant for dinner. Anthony slept through dinner and said he would catch up in the morning!

I was very fortunate that my younger sister, Michele, lives in NY and allowed me to stay at her Manhattan apartment right in Union Square. It was my first year ever missing Halloween at home so I was very disappointed not to see all of the little kids all dressed up. However, I will say that when I got off of the subway at the stop near Michele's apartment, what I saw more than made up for what I missed at home! I had just missed a big parade but there were hundreds of people dressed up going to local clubs and just hanging around. It was fun filming all of this and having some of the people coming up right in front of the camera and act all crazy!

On Saturday I went to Tavern on the Green to do a location check and be sure that I had what I needed for the race on Sunday and to stop into the media center to get my location release signed. After scouting the site and doing some b-roll shooting, both inside and out, I met at the Hotel where Catherine and everone else was staying and Catherine's best friend Helen arrived. She is the woman who is blind and has received medals at the para-Olymics. It was very cute to watch her and Catherine together like little schoolgirls!

Catherine and Helen (disregard date on photo, camera not set properly)
We hung out in Catherine's room and I was able to film her and Hosea getting their bottles ready to submit for the race on Sunday. When Lisa, Catherine, Hosea and Mostafa went to the technical meeting, Anthony, Helen and I took at walk to Times Square where I had to run an errand. We had a nice time and then all had dinner back at the hotel sponsored by NYRR (New York Road Runners, the organization responsible for the race). After dinner, Helen came with me and stayed at my sister's apartment. We tried to make it an early night because we knew we had to be up very early for the race on Sunday.

We woke up at 4am on Sunday and were at the hotel by 5:30. Helen wanted to see Catherine before the buses left for the starting line so she and Catherine could pray together first. Praying is a huge part of both of their lives and is something that would never be left out. The athletes all had to be outside of the Hilton for the buses to leave at 6:30am sharp! We walked Catherine and Hosea to their bus; the elite runners were in a separate bus but all of the buses left together on time. Lisa, Anthony, Mostafa, Helen and I all went back to the hotel and had breakfast until it was time to take our walk to Tavern on the Green to watch the race. It was EXTREMELY cold at 38 degrees with and a slight wind which made it feel even colder! We got to Tavern and I did some more pre- race filming.

When the race started, Catherine was in her usual position at the back of the pack. Paula Radcliffe started off very strong and never looked back. Catherine placed 5th in the race and she was very happy with the way she ran given the weather; she does not like the cold very much and prefers the heat and humidity. We stayed in the Park Room to watch the race. The room was really nice and there were two flat screen televisions with seating available to watch the race. There was also a lovely brunch served. I filmed Anthony while he watched the race; I wanted to capture his nervousness before Catherine races and just the general mood of him, Lisa and Mostafa during a big race. When Catherine finished the race, the three of them went to the finish line to meet her. She had to go to drug testing and then they waited for Hosea who came in 9th for the men. When drug testing was over, everyone came back to the Park room for lunch. Catherine did not even look like she had run as you will see from this photo taken less than 30 minutes after the marathon!


After lunch we all walked back to the hotel. The streets were mayhem with thousands and thousands of people all trying to get somewhere! It took much longer to get back to the hotel than it did to get there in the morning! Once back at the hotel everyone rested until dinner. There was a beautiful invitation-only affair held at a place called The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.


Rita Jeptoo, Helen Cherono, Catherine, Lisa Buster
It was a beautiful setting overlooking the Hudson River and the affair was lovely.

Catherine and Anthony at dinner (disregard date on photo; date on camera not set properly)

There was a short presentation hosted by Mary Wittenberg (President and CEO of New York Road Runners) where highlights of the race were shown and the top ten places in the men's, women's and wheelchair divisions were honored. We were bused back to the hotel where I said my goodbye's to Anthony and Catherine and Helen and I returned to the apartment exhausted from the long day. I know how tired I was and I didn't even run a marathon! I give so much credit to the thousands of people who finished those 26.2 miles!

The weekend was long and exhausting but I got some really nice footage. Aside from that, I was amazed at how much work goes into the planning and execution of this large, prestigious event and how many elite athletes were present! It was a great experience and one that neither I (or my feet) are likely to forget! I took the train back home and returned to reality and a lot of work to catch up on. I am looking forward to getting the trailer put together and getting out to raise the money so I can return to Kenya and complete filming! (any suggestions on where to find money in this lovely economy are greatly welcome!)

Check out the new cover of Runner!

ING Philadelphia Distance Run

Catherine came back to town last Tuesday to prepare to run in the ING Philadelphia Distance Run; a half marathon race set right in the heart of Philadelphia. She has won the race 6 times in the past so what better place to capture her running than in her adopted US home town. On Friday there was a press conference as well as a question & answer session. On Saturday there was another q&a. Afterwards, Catherine signed autographs and customized each one.

It was wonderful to listen to her encourage the children she would meet. I met some children who were so inspired by Catherine's words that they actually signed up right then and there to run in the kids race! It was awesome to see their reaction to meeting a running star! On Sunday morning we woke up at 5am and Lisa called all of the runners to wake them up so they could have their tea and get ready for the race. For the women, it was Catherine, Irene, Caroline and Neriah scheduled to race and for the men, Nephat. We boarded a bus along with all of the elite athletes and headed to the starting area which was at Eagan Square in front of the art museum. It was a beautiful morning for running! We made our way to the elite runners hospitality tent and there is where the runners prepared for the race.

Everywhere I looked I saw athletes stretching, warming up, having tea and mentally getting ready. At 7:30 Lisa and I made our way to the starting line and got in the back of the women's press truck which was a pick up truck. We had canvas camping type chairs to sit on and I set up my camera and waited for the air horn to signal the start of the race. There were almost 15,000 runners, all of various ages so it took quite some time for everyone to get started but the elite runners were at the front of the pack. The race course was absolutely beautiful!

The starting point is right on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway which is lined with all of the flags from countries around the world, from there the course goes through a few city streets, then back up the Ben Franklin Parkway and up the West River Drive which borders one side of the Schulkyll River and then across a bridge to the other side of the river and down Kelly Drive (named after Grace Kelly who was from Philadelphia) and ends up back at Eagan Square on the Parkway. It was a little cool and bright and sunny and it was fun to be able to film the race from directly in front of the runners. At about the 11th mile we had to pull away from the lead pack in order to be able to make it back to the finish line in time to watch the winner cross.

Catherine, her body still recovering from the Olympic marathon, came in second with Irene behind her in third and Neriah in fourth! After the race Catherine was scheduled to start one of the kids races so we made our way to that starting line and she gave a little speech and blew the air horn to start the race for the oldest group of kids. It was a one mile race and both Catherine and the winner of the half marathon, a woman from Russia, held the tape for the winner to cross! After that we were directed to an area in front of the art museum for the awards ceremony. I was disappointed because I wanted to film the kids race for the 10 year olds as I had interviewed a set of twins the day before at the expo and wanted to film their race. However, I did not want to miss the awards. It turned out that they did not present the awards for almost 45 more minutes and I would have had time to film the kids race but it was too late. At the awards, each of the top 5 male and female places received a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a statue of the liberty bell and the winners also got a wreath placed upon their heads.

Catherine spoke about how it was being back in Philadelphia and that hopefully she would run again and try for her seventh win! After the awards she stayed for a bit and signed more autographs, mostly for people who wanted her to sign their bib. As we walked back to the bus a few people stopped her to take a photo with her and just before getting onto the bus, a young girl who was probably around 12 years old approached and asked for a photo with her. She posed with the young girl while the parents took the picture and when they were finished, Catherine handed the girl the bouquet of flowers she had just received and told her that she too will win races one day. The girl was so touched and was visibly blushing! Overall, it was a fun weekend, I got some nice footage and I even got a bouquet of flowers as Irene presented me with hers when we got on the bus! It was her first half marathon and she was very pleased to have come in third! I am extremely appreciative of Lisa for allowing me to share her room and keep me from having to make my way into the city and find parking at such an early hour, to Matt Turnbull from Elite Racing who is the elite athlete coordinator and Dan Cruz the media coordinator for providing me with a press pass and access to all of the areas including the press truck; and to Zeke Zucker for his aid as well!

Updates

Well, its been awhile since I have posted because I have been working feverishly behind the lines to get the business end of everything up and running. I'm happy to announce that my company name is now official: Sparklinblue Productions. My website will be up and running as soon as I find a web designer, but you can always just log back in here!

Post Olympics

Today Catherine arrived from Beijing after a long day of traveling, however, her journey was not even close to being over. I picked her up at the airport just after 7am and she left for Kenya just after 8pm. She will arrive in Nairobi Thursday evening and leave Friday morning for Mombasa. She made a comment earlier that was very cute: "I'll be in the air so much I'm like a bird!"

When she arrived she look well rested and she told me of the wonderful time she had in China both at the Olympics and sightseeing in and around Beijing. When we got back to the athletes house I asked to see her silver medal. It was absolutely beautiful! It is in an oriental looking silver box with a pattern on it similar to small paisleys and it is fastened by a small toggle. Inside is a red lining with a gorgeous shiny red box. On top of the box it says Beijing 2008 with the Olympic rings. When you open that box you see the silver medal fitted into a little recessed circular area and the neck ribbon gets tucked underneath in a separate little compartment. I wanted to take some photos of Catherine with her medal but her phone kept ringing! Everyone knew she was back! While I waited for her to get off of the phone, each of the other athletes tried on the silver medal while I took their photographs. They were all so inspired and each of them mentioned how much they would like an Olympic medal!

When Catherine was off the phone I took several photos of her with her medal. She was wearing a red shirt and blended right in with the beautifully packaged medal!


After a short visit that included some Kenyan tea, I left because Catherine had a very hectic day running around taking care of various errands as well as fitting in a visit to the Chiropractor! She gave me the camcorder that she and Anthony used to take videos while in China and I have watched several; they had great fun with it!

SILVER IS GOLD!!! August 17, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS TO CATHERINE on her SILVER MEDAL in the WOMEN'S MARATHON at the BEIJING OLYMPICS today!!! She ran well and looked great and brought Kenya her first medal of these Olympics! We are all SO proud of her!

There was definitely excitement and nerves in the air tonight as 5 of the Kenyan athletes arrived with Lisa at 5:15 for a BBQ and to prepare to watch the marathon. We had burgers and hotdogs and chicken and corn and "crisps" (potato chips). At 7:10 the camera man arrived and got set to film the athletes and Lisa as they watched the race. Among the Kenyan athletes was Catherine's brother, Samuel Ndereba who is also a runner. I wanted to capture the expressions and reactions to each person as they watched Catherine race. It was interesting to see the difference in the reactions between the different people. Lisa was very nervous and tense at times and Samuel did not seem as nervous on the outside, but he also did not eat dinner stating he was not hungry yet but I wondered if that had more to do with nerves.

Catherine ran her usual strategy of staying to the rear of the lead pack and she looked very strong and good. Lisa followed all her split times on the laptop and was on the phone from time to time with Anthony and/or Mostafa. It was very exciting as the top runners entered the "Birdsnest" to run the final lap around the the track. Everyone was yelling and cheering "Go Catherine" as if she could hear us! Catherine turned and saw one of the Chinese runners at her side and then she sprinted forward and edged her out! We were ALL very excited, relieved and drained! It was such an awesome experience watching the race with all of these excellent athletes! It was very funny though because I had Lisa warn the athletes that I keep my house on the cool side so they may want to bring a sweater. I'm not sure how cold Lisa said it was but Jane was so cute! She arrived with a winter coat on and did not take it off until almost 11:30pm! She wanted ice cream but said she was too cold as well! lol She sat bundled up in a blanket with her jacket on and it was just adorable.

After Catherine won the Silver medal there was a definite change in the air; relaxation! Everyone started moving about again, some checking their email, some getting more food and Irene polished my toenails and painted flowers on each! Catherine finally called and each of us got a chance to talk to her and congratulate her. She sounded great and was relieved that it was over and very happy with the result! She will now have a week to relax with her husband and be a tourist in China which I'm sure will be fun. I think I got some very nice footage tonight so I am pleased with that as well as the result of the race. Hopefully this will help in my quest to raise the funds needed to complete this film!

Training at the Track-August 7, 2008

On Tuesdays and Thursdays the athletes train at a beautiful track at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. It is here that they do their speed work. It's a perfect location as there are bathrooms if needed, water fountain and everyone can warm up along the Perkiomen trail. Once warmed up, they to repetitive laps for speed as opposed to the days that are run for endurance. Mostafa calls out split times and the girls take turns leading/pacing. We filmed the training session today and it was perfect weather. We were also extremely lucky in that we met a young girl (Ali) who runs cross country. She heard from her father that Catherine trained at this track and she came to watch. It was awesome watching her! She was SO excited to see Catherine and she was completely star-struck. After training was over Catherine came over to Ali and gave her tips and they exchanged stories and Catherine even gave Ali her daughter's address so she could write to her! Also at the track today was a woman doing her own jogging. I stopped her and learned that she had come to run there last week and saw what she said "were the most beautiful runners". She approached Mostafa and learned who they were and she said she went home and Googled Catherine. She was so excited and so motivated to get back out and train again that she showed up today. She said at first she was disappointed because she didn't see the Kenyans but that was because they were doing their warm up along the trail. When they got back to the track Elizabeth said she was very excited to see them again. I asked if she would let me interview her. She was so nice and also excited and I told her I would take a photo of her with Catherine and send it to her! It turns out she is a teacher (she also has a son in college who used to run track.) Catherine always wanted to be a teacher and she was in her element talking to both a teacher and a student this morning! It was perfect!
(Elizabeth with Jane Murage while waiting for Catherine)
After Catherine left we interviewed Mostafa because he would be heading to Beijing on Monday with Catherine. We then stopped for lunch (have to have a crew with full bellies!) and headed back to Advanced Health and Performance to get the interview with Johnny King-Marino that we weren't able to get last week!

It was a good day and I think we got some great footage!