Bloglander

An Eastern Washington University professor was last week awarded a sponsorship by an athletic clothing company.

Every year, Athleta Chi, an online community for female athletes, awards sponsorships to female athletes. The 20 women awarded this year will receive athletic clothing from Athleta.*

While many of the selected athletes have exercise-centered jobs, or are professional athletes themselves, Rachel Toor's day job is to teach students creative writing.

She says she got into running because her dog was a couch potato. Since then, she has completed almost 60 marathons and several races that were even longer. She has also won the Black Mountain Marathon and the Gold Country Marathon, and plans to run the Boston Marathon in April of 2012.

Her running has inspired much of her writing. Her most recent book, Personal Record: A Love of Affair with Running, charts the development of her obsession with the exercise.

* An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Toor's sponsorship.