Overview

Rachel Toor was a bookish egghead who ran only to catch a bus. How such an unlikely athlete became a runner of ultramarathons is the story of Personal Record, an exhilarating meditation on the making, and the minutiae, of a runner’s life. The food, the clothes, the races, the injuries, the watch (and Toor loves her watch) are all essential to the runner, as readers discover here, and discover why.              A chronicle of Toor’s relationship with the sport of running, from her early incarnation as an Oreo-eating couch potato to her emergence as a hard-bodied marathoner, this book explores the sport of running, the community it brings into being, and the personal satisfaction of pursuing it to its limit. Alternating with Toor’s account of becoming a runner are the stories—meditations, examinations, celebrations—of how runners become a pack. An homage to running, a literary take on how an activity can turn into a passion, and how a passion can become a way of life, this book runs all the way from individual achievement—a personal record—to the world of friendship and belonging, the community that runners inevitably find.

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9780803260337

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Reviews

Personal Record takes you on a grand tour of the running life, which goes from hobby to one of the purest forms that fanaticism in sport can take-ultramarathons. As any great running book deserves, Rachel Toor's writing is swift, disciplined, sinewy, and indomitably strong. It is also hilarious. The story she tells is a marvel. -Pat Conroy, author of My Losing Season and The Prince of Tides In an unconventional, inspirational, and loving account of running, really well done and funny as heck, Rachel Toor shows how this simple activity is so powerful it sweeps us off our feet into friendships that endure. I'm a fan. -Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon and owner of the Bill Rodgers Running Center Readers who have thought about taking up running but have kept putting it off will discover that Toor has deftly taken away all of their excuses, from 'I don't have time' to 'I'm too out of shape' to 'It'll hurt too much.' A book that will appeal equally to novices and experienced runners. -Booklist A finely written ode to the art, the trial, the lifestyle of marathon running. Toor, an experienced runner, has the ability to take you inside that niche world and make it real. -Reader's Digest In her new essay collection, Personal Record, Toor immerses the reader in the world of long-distance running, examining her bruised, muscular body, the contents of her closet, her pantry jammed with energy gels and protein bars, and her love life in the process of explaining what running means to her and describing the experiences the sport has given her. -Jenny Shank, New West Rachel Toor makes me want to be a runner. . . . We can all find something inspiring in this book of stories about her running experiences. -Doris Anne Roop-Benner, Story Circle Book Reviews

Running Times senior writer Toor (Writing/Eastern Washington Univ.; The Pig and I: Why It's So Easy to Love an Animal, and So Hard to Love a Man, 2005, etc.) charts her transformation from exercise-resistant pretentious little intellectual in college to 40-something ultramarathoner.Fifteen years after forswearing her Oreo-eating ways, Toor has run more than forty marathons and ultras and won a handful of small boutiquey races in mountainous, out-of-the-way places like the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the Himalayas. She has also become one of a dozen or so athletes selected by Clif Bar as pacers, who volunteer in helping less-experienced runners achieve their PRs (personal records, or personal best times at a given distance) in marathons throughout the country. Toor's somewhat fractured collection of short essays on all things running offers many helpful maxims for long-distance runners, ranging from what to expect after a marathon ( You finish the race and walk around feeling fat. Bloated. Porked out. Your whole everything is swollen like a bruise ) to a detailed description of Ride and Tie events, lengthy races involving teams comprised of a pair of runners and a horse. No matter what the subject, though, the spotlight always returns to, and shines brightest on, the author and her accomplishments. She doesn't hesitate to relate why she prefers running with men ( you can talk about nothing for hours ) or offer reasons why she's had trouble in relationships ( I don't cook, and I'm kind of mean ), admitting she's guilty of that least appealing runnerly trait: blinkered self-absorption. She writes: Sometimes, when I'm racing, the thing that keeps my mind off the discomfort I am feeling is the story I will tell about it when I'm finished. For Toor, the acts of running and writing are seemingly intertwined, so readers will gather that the present volume brought much therapeutic relief.Narcissus in Nikes. (Kirkus Reviews)

Until I read Rachel Toor's marvelous book Personal Record, I never understood the great passion of long-distance runners. She takes you on a grand tour of the running life, which goes from hobby to one of the purest forms that fanaticism in sport can take--ultramarathons. As any great running book deserves, Rachel Toor's writing is swift, disciplined, sinewy, and indomitably strong. It is also hilarious. The story she tells is a marvel. Pat Conroy, author of My Losing Season and The Prince of Tides In an unconventional, inspirational, and loving account of running, really well done and funny as heck, Rachel Toor shows how this simple activity is so powerful it sweeps us off our feet into friendships that endure. I'm a fan. Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon and owner of the Bill Rodgers Running Center How do I love thee, running? Let Rachel Toor count the ways--over land, with her body, alongside horses, with her closest friends--the endless, wonderful ways. Kathrine Switzer, first woman to run the Boston Marathon and author of Marathon Woman In this gem of a book, Rachel Toor shares her thoughts and emotions as she tiptoes, trots, and eventually races into the quirky world of running. Toor's journey is a personal adventure, intimate and sometimes confessional, and runners of all abilities will enjoy traveling along with her. Don Kardong, former Olympic marathoner and Runner's World senior writer

Until I read Rachel Toors marvelous book Personal Record, I never understood the great passion of long-distance runners. She takes you on a grand tour of the running life, which goes from hobby to one of the purest forms that fanaticism in sport can take--ultramarathons. As any great running book deserves, Rachel Toors writing is swift, disciplined, sinewy, and indomitably strong. It is also hilarious. The story she tells is a marvel. Pat Conroy, author of My Losing Season and The Prince of Tides In an unconventional, inspirational, and loving account of running, really well done and funny as heck, Rachel Toor shows how this simple activity is so powerful it sweeps us off our feet into friendships that endure. Im a fan. Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon and owner of the Bill Rodgers Running Center How do I love thee, running? Let Rachel Toor count the ways--over land, with her body, alongside horses, with her closest friends--the endless, wonderful ways. Kathrine Switzer, first woman to run the Boston Marathon and author of Marathon Woman In this gem of a book, Rachel Toor shares her thoughts and emotions as she tiptoes, trots, and eventually races into the quirky world of running. Toors journey is a personal adventure, intimate and sometimes confessional, and runners of all abilities will enjoy traveling along with her. Don Kardong, former Olympic marathoner and Runners World senior writer

Author Information

Rachel Toor teaches writing at Eastern Washington University, is a columnist for the Chronicle of Higher Education, and a senior writer for Running Times. She is the author of The Pig and I: How I Learned to Love Men (Almost) as Much as I Love My Pets and Admissions Confidential: An Insider’s Account of the Elite College Selection Process. A graduate of Yale University, she received an MFA from the University of Montana and currently lives in Spokane.

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