Joyce 'Tata' Nduku: The 70-year-old Machakos granny breaking age barriers in marathon races

Joyce Nduku, who is now aged 70, started running at the age of 50 and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. She began running to improve her health and prevent lifestyle diseases, and it has since become a central part of her life.

Nduku’s running journey is marked by numerous accomplishments.

“When I ran the New York Marathon in 2019, there was an 87-year-old woman called Ginette Bedard who was also running. Bedard started running at the age of 69, and her story inspired me to keep going on,” says Nduku.

She was born in Matungulu, Machakos County on March 9, 1954.

The 2019 New York Marathon, which she completed in 4:00:25, was Nduku’s second appearance at a world marathon major, having debuted in the Chicago Marathon in 2008 with a time of 4:07:00.

In 2021, she completed her third world marathon major when she crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon in 5:10:00, a race she described as the most challenging of her recreational running career.

Referring to herself as a three-star athlete, she hopes to run in all six World Marathon Majors and, therefore, has eyes trained on future Berlin, London, and Tokyo marathons.

“I had hoped to run that New York Marathon in less than four hours, but my watch malfunctioned and I could not keep track of my pace. I was hoping to meet the qualifying time for the 2020 London Marathon,” says Nduku, who is known as Tata or the marathon granny in Kenya’s growing community of recreational runners.

“The younger recreational runners nicknamed me Tata and marathon granny because they find it affectionate, and it removes the awkwardness of them having to call me Joyce due to our age difference,” Nduku says.

From lacing up her running shoes in 2004 to aiming for medals in all six World Marathon Majors, the retired nutrition field officer has come a long way, and it was the fear of suffering arthritis and contracting other lifestyle diseases that got her started on this incredible and inspiring journey.

“Lifestyle diseases have ravaged people in my family and community. When I reached 50, and with my knowledge of nutrition, I knew that, having reached the age where it becomes easy to contract lifestyle diseases, I had to decide to safeguard my health and prolong my life. I found running to be appropriate for that purpose; it is easy, cheap, and can be done anywhere,” Nduku, who meets her dietary needs from vegetables she grows in her kitchen garden, says.

Diet

She reveals that she does not eat a lot of meat, only eating chicken once in a while. She prefers plant proteins, especially from traditional legumes.

In 2004, when she started running, she registered for the Nairobi StanChart half-marathon which she completed. Running the 21 kilometres on that occasion strengthened her resolve to continue practising her newfound hobby.

“I felt so good. I felt engulfed with so much peace and relief. It was that feeling that made me realise that running was a rewarding exercise,” Nduku says.

She continued running the StanChart half marathon until 2007 when she upgraded to the full marathon, which she completed after running a few kilometres on the roadside and pedestrian pavements.

“I was still running when the roads opened, but I was determined to finish, and I even refused to board the strugglers’ bus when they came to pick me and other runners who had been time-barred,” Nduku says.

Since then, she has run more marathons locally and internationally. She credits running as having allowed her to see the world and meet more people with similar interests as hers.

“Running promotes domestic and international tourism. I have been to so many places in Kenya and around the world. I have run in Kakamega Forest, in the tea plantations of Kericho, in the rice fields of Mwea, in Ndakaini, and even in Kampala. I also ran the Kilimanjaro marathon for 12 consecutive years, four times in the half marathon and eight times in the full marathon,” she says.

Nduku wants the Ministry of Tourism to find ways of partnering with Kenyan recreational runners to promote domestic tourism as well as market the country abroad.

“Recreational runners travel all over the country and the world, and we always carry the Kenyan flag with us,” she says.

Joyce "Tata" Nduku alias Marathon Granny during the 125th Boston Marathon in October 2021 in Massachusetts, USA. (Photo: Handout)

Her most memorable run was participating in the Two Oceans Run in 2010, just after her 56th birthday. This is a 56-kilometre run that takes place in South Africa every year. It is popular with recreational runners because it offers the thrill of running along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, a feeling Nduku describes as magical as runners get to see where the two oceans meet.

“Running in that race was special because it was 56 kilometres long and I had just turned 56. It was like a birthday present because you only turn 56 once,” Nduku says.

Charity

There is an even more special reason why Nduku runs — charity.

Registering for races whose proceeds go to charity motivates her to sign up for as many runs as possible. On her own, she has on numerous occasions participated in some races with the sole aim of raising money to cater for the education and medical needs of children and people within and outside her community.

“I have helped raise money to have a boy from Kangundo who was born with anal malfunction operated on at the Kenyatta National Hospital. I am glad the boy made a full recovery and is now in junior secondary school after the ailment prevented him from attending school for six years. I have also run to raise funds for the university education of a young girl in Kitengela who was almost dropping out. I am happy she completed school and is now working as a teacher,” Nduku says.

Joyce "Tata" Nduku holding her medal after she participated in the 42km Kilimanjaro Marathon race. (Photo: Handout)

Nduku is also working with Shoe4Africa to raise money to support its children's hospital in Eldoret, which is the first dedicated public children’s hospital in East and Central Africa. The hospital provides care to children suffering from cancer, and after helping raise Sh1 million for it when she did the Comrades Run in 2018 and 2019, Nduku hopes to raise a similar amount for the hospital as she prepares to run in this year’s Chicago Marathon.

“In Kenya, there is a need to support the treatment of cancer among children, and that is why I am passionate about raising funds for the Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital. A lot of children die from cancer because they cannot get treated early enough, and there is a need to change that,” Nduku says.

At the 2024 Chicago Marathon, Nduku will also be running to meet the qualifying time that will see her accepted to run in next year’s London or Tokyo marathon.

“I want to add more stars to my World Marathon Majors conquests,” she says.

Running has become such a big part of Nduku's life that when she is not running, she is doing an activity related to it.

Nduku, who was one of the founding members of the Urban Swaras Running Club, a recreational running club based in Nairobi, says she helps to organise races in her community.

“After relocating to Kitengela in 2014, I started the Kitengela Mbuni Running Club. We need recreational running to be big in Kenya like it is in South Africa so that we can promote good health among our citizens. We cannot be losing people to lifestyle diseases, yet running is free,” says Nduku, who lost her father to a heart attack in 2003 and her mother to another lifestyle illness in 2001.

“I wish my parents would have been alive today to see what became of Joyce Nduku. I am proud of what I am doing to impact people’s lives, and I believe they would have been happy too,” Nduku says.