Running Motivation Quotes

Abraham Lincoln

You can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish, if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.

Juma Ikangaa

The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare.

T.S. Eliot

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.

Dr. George Sheehan

There are as many reasons for running as there are days in a year, years in a life. But 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.

Confucius

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Paavo Nurmi

Mind is everything; muscles, mere pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.

Steve Prefontaine

A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.

Romans, 5:3-5

We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.

Walt Stack

Start slow, then taper off.

Rudyard Kipling

If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that's in it. And, which is more, you'll be a man, my son!

Edward Teller

When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

Emil Zatopek

No, no...I was not very talented. My basic speed was low. Only with willpower was I able to reach this world best standard in long distance running.

Alberto Juantorena

The medal is not for myself. It couldn't be done without the support and help of my people, runners, and coaches.

Grete Waitz

Whatever moves the other runners made, I knew I could respond...I felt if I had to, I could fly.

Steve Jones

In running you can't say you want to be the best. You just have to work very hard, really. You're only a hamstring injury away from oblivion.

Toshihiko Seko

The marathon is my only girlfriend. I give her everything I have.

Robert de Castella

Running well is a matter of having the patience to persevere when you are tired and not expecting instant results. The only secret is that it is consistent, often monotonous, boring, hard work. And it's tiring.

Juma Ikangaa

I don't train to beat another runner. We are out there together, competing with the marathon, and I train to run the marathon as fast as I can.

Joan Benoit Samuelson

Every time I fail, I assume I will be a stronger person for it. I keep on running figuratively and literally, despite a limp that gets more noticeable with each passing season, because for me there has always been a place to go and a terrible urgency to get there.

Said Aouita

I do everything I can to win.

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.

Joan Benoit Samuelson

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.

Ibrahim Hussein

At my school, I was timekeeper. It was my responsibility to make sure the other students were on time. So it was important that I arrived always first.

Noel Carroll

Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of the runner. He learns the harsh reality of his physical and mental limitations when he runs.

2 Tim 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Fred Lebow

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.

Dr. George Sheehan

The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank.

John Bryant

My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.

Bob Clarke

I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain, and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond.

Floyd Patterson

In running, if I get tired, I'll stop; in boxing, if you get tired and stop, you'll get murdered.

Paul Spangler

Hunker down, keep your eyes fixed ahead, and run like hell.

Alberto Salazar

Whatever we accomplish in life, if it's solely for our own good, then it doesn't mean that much. The things you do that affect others in a positive way are the ones that count. Whatever facet of life you're in, God has given you a gift; do the best you can with that gift.

Noureddine Morceli

The new Kenyans. There are always new Kenyans.

Frank Stampfl

Fear is the strongest driving force in competition. Not fear of one's opponent, but of the skill and high standard which he represents; fear, too, of not acquitting oneself well. In the achievement of greater performances, of beating formidable rivals, the athlete defeats fear and conquers himself.

Vince Lombardi

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.