Don't lose heart

Catherine Ndereba, 34, is at the top of her sport. She is a four-time Boston Marathon champion and a two-time winner in Chicago. She was once the world-record holder and won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Of the 16 marathons she has run, she has finished first or second in the last 15, an astounding degree of consistency in such an unpredictable race. Even Ndereba has trouble explaining that.

“It took me 10 years to make it to the Olympics,” Ndereba told a group of New York school students. “I had many disappointments along the way. But I did not lose heart. All I can say to you is, whatever you are doing, don’t lose heart. You can do it.”

From the New York Times