Inspirational Runner Quotes

• A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

  Steve Prefontaine

  Running, Pain, Race

  40 Copy quote

• 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.

  Steve Prefontaine

  Running, Winning, Race

  20 Copy quote

• If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

  Steve Prefontaine

  Inspirational Running, Track, Auditions

  33 Copy quote

• 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

  Running, Important Values, Jogging

  United States. President (1977-1981 : Carter), Jimmy Carter (1979). “Jimmy Carter”

  20 Copy quote

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• You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.

  Steve Prefontaine

  Running, Track, Aviation

  29 Copy quote

• Onions make me sad. A lot of people don't realize that.

  Mitch Hedberg

  Funny, Depression, Humor

  16 Copy quote

• Mind is everything. Muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.

  Paavo Nurmi

  Motivational, Sports, Running

  87 Copy quote

• The marathon can humble you.

  Bill Rodgers

  Running, Humble, Boston Marathon

  Bill Rodgers, Matthew Shepatin (2013). “Marathon Man: My 26.2-Mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World”, p.274, Macmillan

  67 Copy quote

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• Attitude determines how well you do it.

  Lou Holtz

  Motivational Sports, Attitude, Exercise

  Lou Holtz (2009). “Winning Every Day: The Game Plan for Success”, p.14, Harper Collins

  71 Copy quote

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• Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage.

  George S. Patton

  Running, Courage, Blood

  30 Copy quote

• The only tactics I admire are do-or-die

  Herb Elliott

  Running, Tactics, Admire

  54 Copy quote

• Run like hell and get the agony over with.

  Clarence DeMar

  Inspirational, Running, Agony

  20 Copy quote

• 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.

  Alan Armstrong

  Sports, Running, Athlete

  34 Copy quote

• Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have Nature, and that is much better.

  Juha Vaatainen

  Running, Marathon, Stadiums

  49 Copy quote

• Methinks that the moment my legs began to move, my thoughts began to flow.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Running, Travel, Moving

  14 Copy quote

• Just put one foot in front of the other.

  Austin Peck

  Running, Perseverance, Hiking

  68 Copy quote

• Run hard, be strong, think big!

  Percy Cerutty

  Motivational, Fitness, Running

  42 Copy quote

• You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face. Gatorade ad The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.

  Juma Ikangaa

  Running, Mean, Winning

  32 Copy quote

• The five S's of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.

  Ken Doherty

  Inspirational, Motivational, Strength

  86 Copy quote

• We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.

  Alberto Salazar

  Sports, Running, Race

  50 Copy quote

• I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.

  Booker T. Washington

  Inspirational, Life, Success

  Booker T. Washington (1901). “An Autobiography: The Story of My Life and Work, the Original Brought Up-to-date with Over Half a Hundred Full Page Photo and Halftone Engravings and Drawings by Frank Beard”

  407 Copy quote

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• Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'.

  Paul Tergat

  Motivational, Running, Athlete

  "Coeurs d'athlètes". Sport/Documentary, 2003.

  58 Copy quote

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• The real competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit

  George A. Sheehan

  Running, Real, Voice

  42 Copy quote

• 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 it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

  Christopher McDougall

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

  Christopher McDougall (2010). “Born to Run: The hidden tribe, the ultra-runners, and the greatest race the world has never seen”, p.13, Profile Books

  122 Copy quote

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• I run to see who has the most guts.

  Steve Prefontaine

  Sports, Running, Track

  16 Copy quote