Running Quotes

Why a page of motivational running quotes?
Because we all need a little inspiration from time to time.
Because what we get from running depends on what we put in.
Usually, a few choice words can get us back on the road, or encourage us to push that little bit harder to achieve what we want.

What’s your favourite, what gets you out of the door, or what gets you pushing a little bit harder in training or racing?
Post a comment below.

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.
Patti Sue Plummer

I was 12 when I started and 34 before I achieved my dream, that should give people hope.
Kelly Holmes

No Pain, no gain
running proverb

I have met my hero, and he is me.
George Sheehan

Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts,’ probably lost.
Martina Navratilova

Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.
Michael Johnson

If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a board and knock me down, because that means I didn’t run hard enough
Steve Jones

I’ve always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners.
Sebastian Coe

The thinking must be done first, before training begins.
Peter Coe

Hills are speedwork in disguise.
Frank Shorter

It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse.
Ann Trason

Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.
Doug Larson

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.
Emil Zatopek

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.
Jesse Owens

The only tactics I admire are do-or-die.
Herb Elliot

It is a paradox to say the human body has no limit. There must be a limit to the speed at which men can run. I feel this may be around 3:30 for the mile. However, another paradox remains – if an athlete manages to run 3:30, another runner could be found to marginally improve on that time.
Roger Bannister

Ask yourself: ‘Can I give more?’. The answer is usually: ‘Yes’.
Paul Tergat

The decathlon is nine Mickey Mouse events and the 1500 metres.
Steve Ovett

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder.
William Sigei

I prefer to remain in blissful ignorance of the opposition. That way I’m not frightened by anyone’s reputation.
Ian Thompson

Mind is everything: muscle — pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.
Paavo Nurmi

Jogging is very beneficial.  It’s good for your legs and your feet.  It’s also very good for the ground.  It makes it feel needed.
Charles Schulz, Peanuts

You don’t run against a bloody stop watch, do you hear? A runner runs against himself, against the best that’s in him.  Not against a dead thing of wheels and pulleys. That’s the way to be great, running against yourself.
Bill Persons

Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.
Jimmy Carter

There is an expression among even the most advanced runners that getting your shoes on is the hardest part of any workout.
Kathrine Switzer

Any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.
John Bryant

Every run is a great run!
Sasha Azevedo

Why do I run? — I run because I can.
Anon

Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.
Steve Prefontaine

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.
T. Alan Armstrong

When people ask me why I run, I tell them, there’s not really a reason, it’s just the adrenalin when you start, and the feeling when you cross that finish line, and know that you are a winner no matter what place you got.
Courtney Parsons

Jogging through the forest is pleasant, as is relaxing by the fire with a glass of gentle Bordeaux and discussing one’s travels. Racing is another matter. The frontrunner’s mind is filled with an anguished fearfulness, a panic, which drives into pain.
Kenny Moore

I was pushed by myself because I have my own rule, and that is that every day I run faster, and try harder.
Wilson Kipketer

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful will win.
Roger Bannister

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.
Roger Bannister

What’s your favourite running quote?

Add to the list by commenting below.