Catherine Ndereba
Home: Nairobi, Kenya
Age: 29
Personal best: 2:18:47 (Chicago, 2001)

With back-to-back wins in Boston, plus a world record in Chicago last year, Ndereba really is Catherine the Great of the running world. Ndereba's rise to the top started in 1999 when she ran Boston as her first marathon. She stayed with Fatuma Roba through the Newton hills and eventually finished sixth. Seven months later, she was the runner-up in New York City. When she came back to Boston in 2000, she and Roba were stride for stride until Ndereba pulled away in the final mile. Last year, Ndereba was two minutes faster in her repeat victory and set the second-half course record of 70:51. Her subsequent Chicago victory made her the only athlete to have back-to-back wins at the Boston Marathon and the Chicago Marathon for two consecutive years.