Quotes & Sayings

117 Motivational Running Quotes & Sayings

Here is a list of 117 Motivational Running Quotes & Sayings.

Running Quotes & Sayings

“One run can change your day. Many runs can change your life.”

“Today I will run for pure, absolute, joy.”

“Run the first two-thirds of the race with your head and the last third with your heart.”

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

“It’s supposed to be hard… The hard is what makes it great.”

“Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run.” – Jumbo Elliot

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

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” – Haruki Murakami

“Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.” – Jimmy Buffett

“There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.” – Dean Karnazes

“Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.” – Julie Isphording

“As we run, we become.” – Amby Burfoot

“We all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it.” – Deena Kastor

“I always thought of running as just dancing forward.” – Tom Hiddleston

“A runner must run with dreams in his heart.” – Emil Zatopek

“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

“If you don’t believe then who will?”

“The voice inside your head that says you can’t do this is a liar.”

“Tough runs don’t last; tough runners do.”

“A runner is real when she takes the first step.”

“Clear your mind of can’t.” – Samuel Johnson

“Fall in love with the process and the results will come.”

“Running is real and relatively simple. But it ain’t easy.” – Mark Will-Weber

“The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.” – Juma Ikangaa

“It’s time to keep enjoying the best day in running history.” – Amby Burfoot

“Running is real and relatively simple… but it ain’t easy.” – Mark Will-Weber

“Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”

“Get going… Walk if you have to, but finish the damned race.” – Ron Hill

“It’s not so much that I began to run, but that I continued.” – Hal Higdon

“Running is my private time, my therapy, my religion.” – Gail W. Kislevitz

“If you can’t win, make the fellow ahead of you break the record.”

“Runners don’t do drugs, they make their own … naturally.” – E. Neil Culbertson

“Have a dream, make a plan, go for it. You’ll get there I promise.” – Zoe Koplowitz

“The biggest mistake an athlete can make is to be afraid of making one.” – L. Ron Hubbard

“Run in the morning … before your brain figures out what your body is doing!”

“Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Elliot

“Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going.”

“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.” – Jules Rendard

“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.” – Kathrine Switzer

“You must expect great things from yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan

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

“I’ll be happy if running and I can grow old together.” – Haruki Murakami

“The runner must be a fanatic for hard work and enthusiastic enough to enjoy it.” – Franz Stampfl

“Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness, and self-reliance.” – Noel Carroll

“Life is complicated. Running is simple. Is it any wonder that people like to run?” – Kevin Nelson

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” – John Bingham

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes

“I’m not as fast or flexible as I once was, but running keeps me young.” – Nicole DeBoom

“Part of a runner’s training consists of pushing back the limits of his mind.” – Kenny Moore

“Fast running isn’t forced. You have to relax and let the run come out of you.” – Desiree Linden

“I’ve learned that it’s what you do with the miles, rather than how many you’ve run.” – Rod DeHaven

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

“Try jogging when following your heart, it’s healthier.” – Benny Bellamacina

“Runners just do it – they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.”

“Tears streamed down my face as I crossed the finish line. I was a new person, a runner.” – Thomas King

“The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.” – George Sheehan

“Some seek the comfort of their therapist’s office, other head to the corner pub and dive into a pint, but I chose running as my therapy.” – Dean Karnazes

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

“When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever.” – Dick Beardsley

“Every run is a work of art, a drawing on each day’s canvas. Some runs are shouts and some runs are whispers. Some runs are eulogies and others celebrations.” – Dagny Scott Barrio

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius

“Set aside a time solely for running. Running is more fun if you don’t have to rush through it.” – Jim Fixx

“Ask nothing from your running, in other words, and you’ll get more than you ever imagined.” – Christopher McDougall

“I was born to be a runner. I simply love to run. It’s almost like the faster I go, the easier it becomes.” – Mary Decker Slaney

“Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually pain passes and the flow returns. It’s part of racing.” – Frank Shorter

“You would run much slower if you were dragging something behind you, like a knapsack or a sheriff.” – Lemony Snicket

“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.” – Steve Prefontaine

“I often hear someone say I’m not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner.” – Bart Yasso

“It’s a treat being a runner, out in the world by yourself with not a soul to make you bad-tempered or tell you what to do.” – Alan Sillitoe

“Patience is the key which solves all problems.” – Sudanese proverb

“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

“If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.” – Christopher McDougall

“The marathon is not really about the marathon, it’s about the shared struggle. And it’s not only the marathon but the training.” – Bill Buffum

“If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion.” – Robert Pirsig

“When it’s pouring rain and you’re bowling along through the wet, there’s satisfaction in knowing you’re out there and the others aren’t.” – Peter Snell

“You are truly your own hero in running. It is up to you to have the responsibility and self-discipline to get the job done.” – Adam Goucher

“The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you’re not in shape for it, it’s too far to walk back.” – Franklin P. Jones

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 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.” – Rudyard Kipling

“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

“I breathe in strength and breathe out weakness,’ is my mantra during marathons—it calms me down and helps me focus.” – Amy Hastings

“Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.” – Tim Noakes

“There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.” – Kristin Armstrong

“Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running.” – Sarah Condor

“I’m afraid the reason so many new runners quit is because they never get past the point of feeling like they have to run.” – John Bingham

“Running is a thing worth doing not because of the future rewards it bestows, but because of how it feeds our bodies and minds and souls in the present.” – Kevin Nelson

“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

“Getting more exercise isn’t only good for your waistline. It’s a natural anti-depressant, that leaves you in a great mood.” – Auliq Ice

“How to run an ultramarathon? Puff out your chest, put one foot in front of the other, and don’t stop till you cross the finish line.” – Dean Karnazes

“Running became the one event in my daily life that I looked forward to. Books and movies paled in comparison to the refuge of my feet slapping patiently in the fresh morning air.” – Kate Kinsey

“Running is in my blood – the adrenaline flows before the races, the love/hat of butterflies in your stomach.” – Marcus o’Sullivan

“Running has taught me to love my brain, my body, and what both can do for me when I use them wisely and appreciate them.” – Meggie Smith

“I’m always nervous. If I wasn’t nervous it would be weird. I get the same feeling at all the big races. It’s part of a routine, and I accept it.” – Allyson Felix

“All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing. No matter what anybody else says.” – Haruki Murakami

“I want to run. To do what I always do, have always done, for the last five years of my life. Escape, flee into the shadows. But this time, I stand my ground. I’m tired of running.” – Marie Lu, Prodigy

“The true but rare runner’s high is a zone that we enter when everything seems to click perfectly when time stands still, and when we can run almost without effort.” – Amby Burfoot

“It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination.” – John Bingham

“In my case, I thoroughly enjoy running 100-odd miles a week. If I didn’t I wouldn’t do it. Who can define happiness? To some, happiness is a warm puppy or a glass of cold beer. To me, happiness is running in the hills with my mates around me.” – Ron Clarke

“Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself.” – John Bingham

“Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running.” – Julie Isphording

“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

“Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance-you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin beneath your feet.” – Doris Brown Heritage

“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

“I’m often asked what I think about as I run. Usually, the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I’m running? I don’t have a clue.” – Haruki Murakami

“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” – Dean Karnazes

“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” – John Bingham

“I run because it’s so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can’t. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought.” – Arthur Blank

“I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way. Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.” – Dean Karnazes

“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly 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.” – George Sheehan

“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.” – George Sheehan

“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

“Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.” – Joyce Carol Oates

“Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I’ve never seen anyone run like that before. It’s more than just a race, it’s a style. It’s doing something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.” – Steve Prefontaine

“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.” – Roger Bannister

“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

“Running isn’t a sport for pretty boys…It’s about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet. Its the frozen spit on your chin and nausea in your gut. It’s about throbbing calves and cramps at midnight that are strong enough to wake the dead. It’s about getting out the door and running when the rest of the world is only dreaming about having the passion that you need to live each and every day with.” – Paul Maurer

“For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary – or perhaps more like mediocre – level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent, you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.” – Haruki Murakami

“It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we’d like to be. That’s not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you’ve accomplished, rather than thinking of what’s left to be done.” – John Bingham

Further Reading