Behind every successful man, there is a woman, as the saying goes, which rings true for the case of former World marathon record holder Patrick Makau whose brilliance and skill are attributed to his better half.
Catherine Mutwa, a senior sergeant at the Kenya Defence Forces, is no stranger to the athletics industry as she amassed immense success flying the country's flag high before retiring in 2010.
She has been the force behind Makau's meteoric rise in the industry and more so, breaking the World Record in 2011 at the Berlin marathon.
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Before hanging her boots, Mutwa was a force to reckon with in the marathons category. She won her first race abroad at the Birmingham United Kingdom Women League in 2006.
Excited about the levels she could reach, Mutwa joined KDF the same year and later moved to Ngong where she stumbled upon Makau - a newcomer who sought to sharpen his skills in the world of athletics.
"I developed a lot of interest in him, I decided to help him with training, even financially just like my brother, we trained together with other athletes, and because I was already an elite runner, with the help of my then Manager Ian Ladbrooke, I paid an air ticket for Makau to race at the Bristol Half Marathon in the United Kingdom in 2006 and he won," she told the media.
Makau and Mutwa became the dynamic duo, essentially sweeping medals at various competitions. Later that year, they both won their respective half Marathons in Armenia.
As their careers progressed, they decided to officially tie the knot. Their stars continued to shine as they raked in more medals as a couple but their fortunes, however, became bleak after numerous injuries in her career forced Mutwa to call it quits.
Undeterred by the events, she dedicated her time to ensuring her husband's success and aiding him in training. With the help of his wife, Makau ended up breaking the world record at the 2011 Berlin marathon with a timestamp of 2:03:38.
"This was a glorious moment for us, my husband broke the record in Berlin on the same day we got our twin kids, it was a joyous moment," she stated.
Makau took home a total of Ksh12 million for winning first place as well as bonuses for achieving the tremendous feat.
The KDF soldier has since set up a running camp in order to help train novice athletes to stars.
"I did a lot of research before starting a running camp, situated in Kea, Mwingi West, the area has an elevation of 2000m above sea level, which makes it an ideal area for endurance training. Currently, the camp which started in 2020 has over 50 athletes for both juniors and seniors," she pointed out.