Runner Mom Receives Sports Endorsement

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=7&u=...

OSHKOSH, Wis. - Why should elite athletes get all the big endorsement dollars and free stuff? That's what recently ran through the mind of Grace Lim, a back-of-the-pack marathon runner.

So Lim began asking for help — and got herself sponsored.

When the mother of two crossed the finish line Sunday at the Fox Cities marathon, the back of her shirt carried the name of a local company — Movin' Shoes Fox Valley — and a message that it's the store "Where everyone is No. 1."

That's the kind of advertising Lim offered prospective sponsors in a series of letters to athletic wear companies. She was facing costs of about $500 for shoes, shirts and entry fees for two marathons this fall.

She made her pitch in person to Movin' Shoes.

"I walked in and said, `This is why you want to sponsor me: Customers are made of people like me — back-of-the-pack runners,'" she said.

She offered to be a "slow-moving billboard" for the specialty running store.

Ross McDowell, owner of Movin' Shoes, said it made sense.

"She's an everyday runner. Most of our customers are. Not everyone is a distance runner," he said.