Mantras:
- “A Hero Holds On One Minute Longer...”
- “A Winner Never Quits And A Quitter Never Wins....”
- “All Walls Have Doors...”
- “Believe...”
- “Better. Faster. Stronger...”
- “Boom Chuggah Luggah Luggah...”
- “Breathe Easy...”
- “Chug-A-Lug...”
- “Come What May, I Will Run...”
- “Conquer...”
- “Define Yourself...”
- “Do, Or Do Not. There Is No Try...”
- “Doin' Good, Feelin' Fine...”
- “Ease, Glide, Smooth...”
- “Endure...”
- “Every Day, In Every Way, I Am Getting Better and Better...”
- “Every Mile Is The Marathon...”
- “Extend Yourself...”
- “Failure Is Not An Option...”
- “Fearless...”
- “Feet Fast, Legs Strong, I Can Do This All Day Long...”
- “Finish Strong...”
- “Flow...”
- “Focus...Focus...Focus...”
- “Focus...Form...Flow... ”
- “Form First, Speed Will Follow...”
- “Give Me Strength...”
- “Go Faster...”
- “Harder... Faster ..... Better ..... Stronger!!”
- “Heart...Legs...Courage...Strength...”
- “Hills Are My Friend...”
- “I Am Because I Run, I Run Because I Am...”
- “I Am Healthy, I Am Strong. I Can Do This All Day Long...”
- “I Am Not A Quitter!...”
- “I Am Strong!...”
- “I Am Strong, I Run My Race!...”
- “I Am Tough... I Am Strong... I Am Healthy... I Am Awesome... I Love To Run...”
- “I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me...”
- “I Flit, I Float, I Fleetly Flee, I Fly...”
- “I Just Felt Like Running, Then After That Couldn'T Stop!...”
- “I Run Fast, I Run Strong, I Run Long...”
- “I Run Fast and Strong; I Can Do This All Day Long; I, In This, Belong...”
- “I Think I Can, I Think I Can...”
- “I Think I Can, I Know I Can...”
- “I Will Fight The Good Fight, I Will Finish The Race, I Will Keep The Faith!...”
- “I Will Survive...”
- “If It Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It...”
- “I'm a Lean, Mean, Running Machine...”
- “It's Mind Over Matter, If You Don't Mind, It Doesn't Matter...”
- “It's Only Rock And Roll And I Like It, Like It. Yes, I Do...”
- “Just Believe...”
- “Just Keep Running. Just Keep Running. Just Keep Running...”
- “Keep Running...”
- “Keep Your Form. Speed Will Stay...”
- “Kick Some Butt ...”
- “Lean...Long...Fit...Strong...”
- “Left-Right-Left-Right-Breathe In-Right-Left-Right-Left-Breath Out...”
- “Legs, Hips, Feet, Thighs... Running Fast Gives Runners' Highs!...”
- “Light And Focused...”
- “Liv'n Lov'n Run'n...”
- “Lose The Form, Lose The Speed...”
- “Make Yourself Breathe...”
- “Man Up...”
- “Mind Is Powerful; Only Pleasure, Strength and Speed; My Thoughts Become Creed!...”
- “Mind Over Matter...”
- “More Miles Til I Drink Beer!...”
- “My Medal, Hot Shower, Cold Beer...”
- “Never Back Down...”
- “Never Give Up...”
- “No One Ever Drowned In Sweat...”
- “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained...”
- “One Chance Is All You Need...”
- “One Foot In Front Of The Other...”
- “Pain Feels So Much Better Than Regret...”
- “Pain Is Temporary But Pride Is Forever...”
- “Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body..”
- “Pain Now, Wine Later...”
- “Persevere...”
- “Pick It Up...”
- “Push Harder”
- “Quick, Cool, Light...”
- “Relax And Let Gravity Do The Work...”
- “Relaxxxxxxxxx...”
- “Relentless...”
- “Relentless...”
- “Rough Roads Lead To The Heights Of Greatness...”
- “Run Faster”
- “Run Forest Run...”
- “Run Further... Run Faster... Run Smooth... Relax...”
- “Run Hard...”
- “Run Light Run Tall...”
- “Run Long, Finish Strong...”
- “Run Tall...”
- “Run, Baby, Run, Baby, Run, Baby, Run, Baby, Run...”
- “Run, Run, Fly, Fly...”
- “Running Is My Happy Hour...”
- “Shoulders Back, Look Up, Smile!...”
- “Show Them That You're Tougher Than The Rest...”
- “Smile And My Body Will Follow...”
- “Stay Focused...”
- “Strength...”
- “Strong And Smooth...”
- “Tall And Strong...”
- “Thankful, Focused, Calm...”
- “That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger...”
- “The Body Achieves What The Mind Believes...”
- “The Faster You Run, The Faster You're Done...”
- “The Mind Controls The Body, The Body Does Not Control The Mind...”
- “The Pain Won't Get Any Worse, You Can Handle It...”
- “They Can't Be Feeling That Much Better Than I Am Right Now...”
- “This Hill Is Mine ...”
- “This Is Exactly Where I Want To Be...”
- “This Too Shall Pass...”
- “Thoughts Become Things, I Am A Winner!...”
- “Today, Define Yourself”
- “Transcend...”
- “Trust Your Training...”
- “Unbreakable...”
- “Warrior...”
- “What Doesn't Kill Me Will Make Me Stronger...”
- “What Goes Down Must Go Up...”
- “What Goes Up Must Go Down...”
- “When You Run, You Will Not Stumble...”
- “Work It, Do It, Makes Us Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger...”
- “You Are Only Limited By Yourself...”
- “The race is not won by the swift nor the strong, but to he who endures in the end.” –Ecclesiastes 9:11
- “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” –First Corinthians 9:24
- “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” –First Corinthians 9:25-27
- “Run with endurance the race.” –Hebrews 12:1
- “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.” –Hebrews 12:11-13
- “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” –Isaiah 40:29-31
- “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” –Isaiah 40:31
- “So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” –Isaiah 41:10
- “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” –Philippians 4:13
- “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” –Proverbs 27:17
- “But whatever happens,” he said, “I will run.” –2 Samuel 18:23
- “What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” –Buddha
- “A Journey of one-thousand miles begins with a single step.” –Confucius
- “In all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” –Confucius
- “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” –Confucius
- “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we do.” –Confucius
- “You should exercise unrelenting discipline over your thought patterns. Cultivate only productive attitudes...you are the product of everything you put into your body and mind.” –I Ching
- “Move and the way will open.” –Zen Saying
- “The obstacle is the path.” –Zen Saying
Olympian Muhammad Ali:
- “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
- “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
- “A run begins the moment you forget you are running.”
- “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up you'd better be running.”
- “His pain your gain.”
- “No one ever drowned in sweat.”
- “The body achieves what the mind believes.”
- “Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift, so make the most of it.”
- “You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.”
- “You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have.”
Olympian Lance Armstrong:
- “Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight.”
- “Pain is good because it teaches your body and your soul to improve.”
- “I believe in the runner's high, and I believe that those who are passionate about running are the ones who experience it to the fullest degree possible. To me, the runner's high is a sensational reaction to a great run! It's an exhilarating feeling of satisfaction and achievement. It's like being on top of the world, and truthfully... there's nothing else quite like it!”
- “I run because it's my passion, and not just a sport. Every time I walk out the door, I know why I'm going where I'm going and I'm already focused on that special place where I find my peace and solitude. Running, to me, is more than just a physical exercise... it's a consistent reward for victory!”
- “Running has never failed to give me great end results, and that's why I keep coming back for more!”
- “Running is one the best solutions to a clear mind.”
- “Like Odysses, lash yourself to the mast or put beeswax in your years. When the sirens beckon you go out fast... If you heed their call, you hit The Wall.”
- “Look everywhere for motivation – even little bits of it. It's everywhere you look, and it all adds up!”
- “Stretch more. You never know when it will be your day, and if you don't leave comfort behind, it never will be.”
- “Take advantage of serendipity. Meet people, make connections. You never know where luck and your contacts may lead you – maybe to your big day.”
- “When all seems like it's unraveling, don't panic. Recognize that just doing more of the same won't help. Keep moving and take stock of your own strengths. Figure out how to reravel it.”
- “No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.”
- “Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks.”
- “We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.”
John Bingham:
- “Frustration is the first step towards improvement. I have no incentive to improve if I’m content with what I can do and if I’m completely satisfied with my pace, distance and form as a runner. It’s only when I face frustration and use it to fuel my dedication that I feel myself moving forwards.”
- “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.”
- “The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
- “What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate.”
Dick Beardsley:
- “Because of that race we will always be joined at the hip, but we've really gotten to know each other and become good friends only in the last six years. Before that, when we saw each other, we were always very cordial, but I think we were uncomfortable around each other.”
- “If you want to win a race, you have to go a little berserk.”
Caballo Blanco (from Christopher McDougall's 'Born To Run'): “The problem with most people is they only care about getting fast, and think that once they get fast, running will get easy. They got it backwards. First focus on getting easy, because if that's all you get, that ain't so bad. Once you can run easy, focus on light. Once you get light, focus on smooth. By the time you're easy, light and smooth, you won't have to worry about getting fast--you will be.”
Bill Bowerman: “If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?.... The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.”
Les Brown:
Bill Bowerman: “If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?.... The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.”
Les Brown:
- “Cross Country: No half times, no time outs, no substitutions. It must be the only true sport.”
- “If you want to win a race, you have to go a little berserk.”
- “Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder.”
- “Running is a mental sport...and we're all insane!”
- “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”
- “The will to win is worthless, without the will to prepare.”
- “Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly.”
- “To get to the finish line, you'll have to try lots of different paths.”
Olympian Rob de Castella: “The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon.”
Percy Cerrutty:
- “Hard things take time to do. Impossible things take a little longer.”
- “Run hard, be strong, think big.”
- “Never, never, never, never give up.”
- “Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Arthur C. Clarke: “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
Olympian Sebastian Coe: “I've always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners.”
President Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
President Bill Clinton: “Running helps me stay on an even keel and in an optimistic frame of mind.”
e. e. Cummings: “We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit..”
Desiree Davila: “Stepping outside the comfort zone is the price I pay to find out how good I can be. If I planned on backing off every time running got difficult I would hang up my shoes and take up knitting.”
Monte Davis: “Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run.”
Michelle Dekkers: “I prefer running without shoes. My toes didn't get cold. Besides, if I'm in front from the start, no one can step on them.”
Olympian Bill Dellinger: “Good things come slow - especially in distance running.”
Dick Dime: “When your legs give out, run with your heart.”
Walt Disney:
Scott Douglass: “In the first half of the race, don't be an idiot. In the second half, don't be a wimp.”
Jerome Drayton: “To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.”
James David Dykas: “I do not apologize for my pace. I am what I am and the joy of a run is the freedom to walk outside the door and move at my own pace through a park, a neighborhood, a town, a landscape.”
Thomas Alva Edison: “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
T.S. Elliot: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
Albert Einstein:
Olympian Sebastian Coe: “I've always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners.”
President Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
President Bill Clinton: “Running helps me stay on an even keel and in an optimistic frame of mind.”
e. e. Cummings: “We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit..”
Desiree Davila: “Stepping outside the comfort zone is the price I pay to find out how good I can be. If I planned on backing off every time running got difficult I would hang up my shoes and take up knitting.”
Monte Davis: “Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run.”
Michelle Dekkers: “I prefer running without shoes. My toes didn't get cold. Besides, if I'm in front from the start, no one can step on them.”
Olympian Bill Dellinger: “Good things come slow - especially in distance running.”
Dick Dime: “When your legs give out, run with your heart.”
Walt Disney:
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
- “The difference in winning and losing is most often... not quitting.”
Scott Douglass: “In the first half of the race, don't be an idiot. In the second half, don't be a wimp.”
Jerome Drayton: “To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.”
James David Dykas: “I do not apologize for my pace. I am what I am and the joy of a run is the freedom to walk outside the door and move at my own pace through a park, a neighborhood, a town, a landscape.”
Thomas Alva Edison: “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
T.S. Elliot: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
Albert Einstein:
- “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
- “Great spirits often encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
- “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
- “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
- “Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.”
Mike Fanelli: “I tell runners to divide a race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.”
William Faulkner: “Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
Matt Fitzgerald: “Grete Waitz won the 1978 New York Marathon, setting a world record in the process, having never previously run farther than 12 miles. Steve Jones broke the marathon world record and set a personal-best time of 2:07:13 in the mid-1980s on fewer than 100 miles per week.”
Jim Fixx: “Play not only keeps us young but also maintains our perspective about the relative seriousness of things. Running is play, for even if we try hard to do well at it, it is a relief from everyday cares.”
John Fixx (son of Jim Fixx): “When I think about running, it feels like the best 45-minute investment I make in a day. It's enjoyable, it makes me feel better, and it's probably paying dividends way into the future. Running is a really easy choice.”
Tom Fleming: “Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.”
Lauren Fleshman: “I have a saying that I repeat to myself whenever I get really fearful of competition or start to feel too much pressure. I focus on my breathing, picture something calm like a breeze going through palm trees, and let this run through my head on a loop until I feel better: Running is not who I am; it's something I do; it's something I love.”
Henry Ford:
Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
Olympian Jeff Galloway: “When I finish a run, every part of me is smiling.”
Olympian Jacqueline Gareau: “The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”
Haile Gebrselassie: “I can run faster.”
David Lloyd George: “Don't be afraid to take big steps. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.”
Mahatma Ghandi: “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.”
George Gissing: “For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.”
Vincent van Gogh: “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Olympian Kara Goucher:
Kurt Hahn: “There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.”
Olympian Ryan Hall: “I think there are a couple of ways to look at guys stepping up their game. Either be inspired by it or give up. I have always chosen to be inspired.”
Joe Henderson: “You also need to look back, not just at the people who are running behind you but especially at those who don't run and never will... those who run but don't race...those who started training for a race but didn't carry through...those who got to the starting line but didn't in the finish line...those who once raced better than you but no longer run at all. You're still here! Take pride in wherever you finish. Look at all the people you've outlasted.”
Hal Higdon: “Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.”
Japanese Proverb: “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
Olympian Michael Johnson:
Khalid Khannouchi: “If something is there for me, it's going to wait for me.”
Charles Kingsley: “All we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”
Vince Lombardi: “Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.”
Terrence Mahon: “Act as if you already are.”
Og Mandino: “To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can.”
Jaymee Marty: “Just suck it the hell up and press on with pride.”
Kenji Miyazawa: “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
John Muir: “The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
Friedrich Nietzsche:“Exhaustion is the shortest way to equality and fraternity.”
Tim Noakes: “Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.”
Olympian Paavo Nurmi: “Mind is everything: muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.”
Joyce Carol Oates: “Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be.”
Richard O'Brien: “Running is not, as it so often seems, only about what you did in your last race or about how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community, about appreciating all the miles run by other runners, too.”
Olympian Apolo Ohno: “I do my best thinking when I'm running. I don't know why that is - everything seems to flow so easily. It's almost a spiritual thing for me.”
Olympian Jesse Owens:
Henry Ford:
- “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
- “Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals.”
- “Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right.”
Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
Olympian Jeff Galloway: “When I finish a run, every part of me is smiling.”
Olympian Jacqueline Gareau: “The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”
Haile Gebrselassie: “I can run faster.”
David Lloyd George: “Don't be afraid to take big steps. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.”
Mahatma Ghandi: “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.”
George Gissing: “For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.”
Vincent van Gogh: “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Olympian Kara Goucher:
- “Do the work. Do the analysis. But feel your run. Feel your race. Feel the joy that is running.”
- “My fitness is close to where it needs to be and I have time, so I'm running with serenity and confidence and letting the improvements come to me.”
Kurt Hahn: “There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.”
Olympian Ryan Hall: “I think there are a couple of ways to look at guys stepping up their game. Either be inspired by it or give up. I have always chosen to be inspired.”
Joe Henderson: “You also need to look back, not just at the people who are running behind you but especially at those who don't run and never will... those who run but don't race...those who started training for a race but didn't carry through...those who got to the starting line but didn't in the finish line...those who once raced better than you but no longer run at all. You're still here! Take pride in wherever you finish. Look at all the people you've outlasted.”
Hal Higdon: “Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.”
Japanese Proverb: “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
Olympian Michael Johnson:
- “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.”
- “Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.”
Lou Holtz: “Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
Olympian Juma Ikangaa: “To win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
Sister Marion Irvine: “It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being.”
Lynn Jennings: “Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.”
William James: “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.”
President Thomas Jefferson: “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
Erica Jong: “I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.”
Michael Jordan:
Dean Karnazes:
Olympian Juma Ikangaa: “To win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
Sister Marion Irvine: “It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being.”
Lynn Jennings: “Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.”
William James: “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.”
President Thomas Jefferson: “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
Erica Jong: “I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.”
Michael Jordan:
- “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
- “I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”
Dean Karnazes:
- “Endurance never sleeps.”
- “Endurance sports either strengthen a relationship or destroy it.”
- “Even if you're inches away from the finish, never take success for granted.”
- “For me, as for so many runners, there really are no finish lines. Runs end; running doesn't.”
- “I never feel more alive than when I'm in great pain, struggling against insurmountable odds and untold adversity. Hardship? Suffering? Bring it! I've said it before and I've come to believe it: There's magic in misery.”
- “My toughest ultra has been raising two children. At least in an ultra race you know what's expected of you; the rules of engagement are clear.”
- “Regardless of how distant your dreams may seem, every second counts.”
- “Returning from my daily run the other morning, I came upon my neighbor, out in his slippers collecting the morning paper. He looked at me in my running gear and asked, 'Doesn't running hurt?' I thought about his question. 'It does if you're doing it right,' I said.”
- “Running 100 miles nonstop is not twice as demanding as running 50 miles; it's four or five times more difficult.”
- “Running has an uncanny ability to mellow the soul, to take the edge off hard feelings, and put things back into healthy perspective.”
- “We runners don't need a lot. It is not what we have but what we enjoy that constitutes our abundance.”
- “When all else fails, start running.”
- “You cannot grow and expand your capabilities to their limits without running the risk of failure.”
Khalid Khannouchi: “If something is there for me, it's going to wait for me.”
Charles Kingsley: “All we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”
Vince Lombardi: “Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.”
Terrence Mahon: “Act as if you already are.”
Og Mandino: “To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can.”
Jaymee Marty: “Just suck it the hell up and press on with pride.”
Kenji Miyazawa: “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
John Muir: “The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
Friedrich Nietzsche:“Exhaustion is the shortest way to equality and fraternity.”
Tim Noakes: “Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.”
Olympian Paavo Nurmi: “Mind is everything: muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.”
Joyce Carol Oates: “Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be.”
Richard O'Brien: “Running is not, as it so often seems, only about what you did in your last race or about how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community, about appreciating all the miles run by other runners, too.”
Olympian Apolo Ohno: “I do my best thinking when I'm running. I don't know why that is - everything seems to flow so easily. It's almost a spiritual thing for me.”
Olympian Jesse Owens:
- “Friendships are born on the field of athletic strife and the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
- “I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”
- “I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.”
- “It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it's close.”
- “One chance is all you need.”
- “Running is real. It's all joy and woe, hard as a diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but also makes you free.”
- “The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.”
- “We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.”
- “If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving.”
- “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
- “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
- “There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
- “Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage.”
- “Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired...You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going.”
Robert Pirsig: “If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion.”
Patti Sue Plummer:
- “Racing teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go.”
- “The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters.”
Olympian Steve Prefontaine:
- “A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.”
- “A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”
- “A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.”
- “Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
- “Having a true faith is the most difficult thing in the world. Many will try to take it from you.”
- “If you can't win, make the one ahead of you break the record.”
- “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
- “I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”
- “Life’s battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.”
- “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
- “Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative.”
- “Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”
- “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
- “You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”
- “You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”
Olympian Paula Radcliffe: “I can't imagine living and not running.”
Alex Ratelle: “I eat whatever the guy who beat me in the last race ate.”
Christopher Reeve: “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Dathan Ritzenhein: “For me, the hardest part of an injury is watching the races go by that I had hoped to compete in. The only thing that makes it easier is thinking of how certain struggles make other accomplishments mean so much.”
Nora Roberts: “If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.”
Anthony Robbins: “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”
Olympian Bill Rodgers:
Alex Ratelle: “I eat whatever the guy who beat me in the last race ate.”
Christopher Reeve: “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Dathan Ritzenhein: “For me, the hardest part of an injury is watching the races go by that I had hoped to compete in. The only thing that makes it easier is thinking of how certain struggles make other accomplishments mean so much.”
Nora Roberts: “If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.”
Anthony Robbins: “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”
Olympian Bill Rodgers:
- “Anybody can be a runner. We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport.”
- “The starting line of the New York City marathon is kind of a giant time bomb behind you about to go off. It is the most spectacular start in sport.”
Fred Rohe: “There are no standards and no possible victories except the joy you are living while dancing your run....you are not running for some future reward-the real reward is now!”
Jim Rohn: “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
Henry Rono: “It is better, I think, to begin easily and get your running to be smooth and relaxed and then to go faster and faster.”
Eleanor Roosevelt:
Peter Sagal: “What I have found is that the last six miles separate distance runners from those who are merely obsessive or have a high tolerance for boredom. They are the crucible from which come molten, freshly recast marathoners, and each one of those miles is a distinct trial to conquer, and reason to train, and reason to boast, and as such, in truth, I love them, because though you'll never know exactly why you do them, it's over those last six miles that you finally find out if you can.”
Olympian Alberto Salazar:
Jim Rohn: “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
Henry Rono: “It is better, I think, to begin easily and get your running to be smooth and relaxed and then to go faster and faster.”
Eleanor Roosevelt:
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
- “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
- “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
- “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
- “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
Peter Sagal: “What I have found is that the last six miles separate distance runners from those who are merely obsessive or have a high tolerance for boredom. They are the crucible from which come molten, freshly recast marathoners, and each one of those miles is a distinct trial to conquer, and reason to train, and reason to boast, and as such, in truth, I love them, because though you'll never know exactly why you do them, it's over those last six miles that you finally find out if you can.”
Olympian Alberto Salazar:
- “Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards.”
- “We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.”
- “You can be efficient for a while with bad form–maybe with a low shuffle stride – but eventually that’s not good for your body. It’s going to produce tightness and muscular imbalances and structural problems. Then you get injuries, and if you’re not careful – if you don’t take care of the muscular and structural issues – the injuries can put you into a downward spiral.”
- “Becoming a champion requires being comfortable when and where you are training.”
- “Keep varying the program. Your body will tell you what to do.”
- “Running is 80 percent mental.”
- “When I first started running, I was so embarrassed I'd walk when cars passed me. I'd pretend I was looking at the flowers.”
Seneca:
- “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”
- “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
- “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
- “Talk to me not of time and place; I owe I'm happy to the chase.”
Dr. George Sheehan:
- “Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.”
- “Fitness has to be fun. If it is not play, there will be no fitness. Play, you see, is the process. Fitness is merely the product.”
- “Fitness is a stage you pass through on the way to becoming a racer.”
- “It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.”
- “No matter how old I get, the race remains one of life's most rewarding experiences. My times become slower and slower, but the experience of the race is unchanged: each race a drama, each race a challenge, each race stretching me in one way or another, and each race telling me more about myself and others.”
- “Life is the great experiment. Each of us is an experiment of one.”
- “Listen to your body. Do not be a blind and deaf tenant.”
- “Once you have decided that winning isn't everything, you become a winner.”
- “Running makes you an athlete in all areas of life... trained in the basics, prepared for whatever comes, ready to fill each hour and deal with the decisive moment.”
- “Some think guts is sprinting at the end of a race. But guts is what got you there to begin with. Guts start back in the hills with 6 miles to go and you're thinking of how you can get out of this race without anyone noticing. Guts begin when you still have forty minutes of torture left and you're already hurting more than you ever remember.”
- “Success rests in having the courage and endurance and, above all, the will to become the person you are, however peculiar that may be. Then you will be able to say, 'I have found my hero and he is me.”
- “Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach.”
- “The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.”
- “There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.”
- “There is no substitute for learning to live in our bodies. All the tests and all the machines in the world will fail if we do not first become good animals.”
- “There will never be a day when we won't need dedication, discipline, energy, and the feeling that we can change things for the better.”
Edward Stanley: “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”
Lynn Strickland: “Find your limits and exceed them.”
Leon J. Suenes: “Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
Paul Tergat: “Ask yourself: ‘Can I give more?’. The answer is usually: ‘Yes’.”
Olympian Ian Thompson: “When I am running well I am happy, and when I am happy I run well.”
Henry David Thoreau:
- “Did you ever hear of a man who had striven all his life faithfully and singly toward an object, and in no measure obtained it? If a man constantly aspires, is he not elevated?”
- “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
- “The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
Mark Twain: “Good judgement is the result of experience, experience is the result of bad judgment.”
Olympian Sean Wade: “Negative split every run.”
Olympian Grete Waitz:
Olympian Grete Waitz:
- “I'm never going to run this again.” (after winning her first of nine New York City marathons!)
- “Spend at least some of your training time, and other parts of your day, concentrating on what you are doing in training and visualizing your success.”
Olympian Priscilla Welch: “If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.”
Marcia Wieder: “Commitment leads to action. Action brings dreams closer.”
Oprah Winfrey: “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.”
John Wooden: “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
Bart Yasso:
- “And when I started running, I started dreaming. It couldn’t be helped. The mind works as hard as the body does during exercise. It knows its role during those lonely interludes—to inspire, analyze, and fantasize.”
- “I know I feel more like myself when I run, even if it’s only a few miles, or at least I feel like the self I like best. Running inspires creativity, relieves stress, and gives us insight into ourselves and the world, making the human condition more tolerable.”
- “Running is about acceptance—of yourself and others. When you’re out on the trail sweating, it doesn't matter if the guy or gal next to you works at a fast food joint or is CEO. It’s doesn't matter what color they are, or how old they are, or what religion they practice, if any.”
- “Running may be the connective tissue, but the true experience of the sport is a passage to a bigger world. So open the door and run through. Just don't be surprised if you arrive in a place you only dreamed existed.”
- “The acceptance of all abilities is what differentiates running from every other sport. In football, there are 22 people on the field and 60,000 in the stands. It’s the opposite in running. Everyone’s on the field and in the fold.”
- “Winning is a nice reward—don’t get me wrong—but glory isn’t the payoff. This may sound cliché, but the reward is living the lifestyle and embracing the dream. It’s not only about finishing, it’s about moving forward.”
- “Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.”
- “I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the Marathon take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.”
- “It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.”
- “We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.”
