Motivational Running Quotes

Endurance sports, such as long-distance running can become monotonous and we all need something to keep us on track. I get help by occasionally reading an inspirational quote, such as the following…

“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.”
- Steve Prefontaine

“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 will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
-Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.”
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.”
-Oprah Winfrey

“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.”
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

“Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’”
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

“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.”
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

“Ask yourself: ‘Can I give more?’. The answer is usually: ‘Yes’.”
-Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

“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.”
- Joe Henderson

“Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right.”
-Henry Ford

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
-William Faulkner

“Keep varying the program. Your body will tell you what to do.”
- Joan Benoit Samuelson

“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.”
-Monte Davis

“I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards.”
-Alberto Salazar, three-time winner of the NYC marathon

“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.”
-John Bingham, running writer and speaker

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”
-Les Brown

“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

“The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank.”
-George Sheehan

“There is an itch in runners.”
-Arnold Hano

“We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.”
-Alberto Salazar

“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.”
-Grete Waitz

“Anybody can be a runner. We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It’s the easiest sport.”
–Bill Rodgers

“Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.”
-Lynn Jennings

“No one ever drowned in sweat.”
-Author Unknown

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.”
-Bill Bowerman

“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.”
-Priscilla Welch