Motivational Quotes

If you'd like to be notified next time I write something, sign up for email alerts or subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for reading!

I run with my head, my heart and my guts, because physically, I don't think I've got a great deal of talent or ability. I started at the bottom and worked up.
Steve Jones, former marathon world record holder

Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.
Tom Fleming

Good things come slow - especially in distance running.
Bill Dellinger, Oregon Coach

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Steve Prefontaine

I used to run to school, 10k every day.
Haile Gebrselassie

I just run as hard as I can for 20 miles, and then race.
Steve Jones, former marathon world record holder

Fear is a great motivator.
John Treacy, 1984 Olympic silver medalist

If you feel bad at 10 miles, you’re in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you’re normal. If you don’t feel bad at 26 miles, you’re abnormal.
Rob De Castella, on the marathon

Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.
Steve McQueen

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

This is what really matters: running. This is where I know where I am.
Steve Jones

A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket.
Emil Zatopek

The difference between the mile and the marathon is the difference between burning your fingers with a match and being slowly roasted over hot coals.
Hal Higdon

You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.
Frank Shorter

Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision.
Muhammad Ali

The truth is that running hurts.
Unknown

You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone.
Percy Cerutty

If you are going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

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

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience another life... run a marathon.
Emil Zatopek

What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open.
Nike

Just do it!
Nike

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
Albert Einstein

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

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.
Bill Bowerman

But if you never try you'll never know,
Coldplay - Fix You

Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge.
Dave Bedford, English distance runner

The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat.
Bill Squires

The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Stephen Covey

When in doubt, when in fear, be aggressive. Commit yourself and never look back.
Unknown

Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.
Dr. George Sheehan

I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.
Mike Fanelli, club coach

Run hard, be strong, think big!
Percy Cerutty

Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
Emil Zatopek

Life (and running) is not all about time but about our experiences along the way.
Jen Rhines

Racing is the fun part; it's the reward of all the hard work.
Kara Goucher

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.
Emil Zatopek

Champions are everwhere; all you need is to train them properly...
Arthur Lydiard

To keep from decaying, to be a winner, the athlete must accept pain - not only accept it, but look for it, live with it, learn not to fear it.
Dr. George Sheehan

Winning is not about headlines and hardware [medals]. It’s only about attitude. A winner is a person who goes out today and every day and attempts to be the best runner and best person he can be… Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.
Amby Burfoot

Get out there and do what you love!
Kara Goucher

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.
Dr. George Sheehan

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

Tough times don't last but tough people do.
A.C. Green

A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
Steve Prefontaine

If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat.
HERSCHEL WALKER

You find out by trial and error what the optimal level of training is. If I found I was training too hard, I would drop it back for a day or two. I didn't run for five days before the sub-four-minute mile.
Sir Roger Bannister

Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.
Dr. Joyce Brothers

If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort.
Dave Weinbaum

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
T.S. Eliot

The answer to the big questions in running is the same as the answer to the big questions in life: Do the best with what you've got.
Dr. George Sheehan

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.
Jesse Owens

Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight.
Lance Armstrong

The world is divided into two kinds of people: runners and non-runners.
Marc Bloom, The Runner's Bible

Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head.
Joe Henderson