A time comes in every runner’s career when a terrible slump occurs. It can sometimes be helpful to take the advice of runners that have been there before or try to look at running in a new light. Here are some of my favorites running quotes to motivate you to get moving.
“A runners creed: I will win; if I cannot win, I shall be second; if I cannot be second, I shall be third; if I cannot place at all, I shall still do my best.” – Ken Doherty
“People begin running for any number of motives, but we stick to it for one basic reason – to find out who we really are.” - George Sheehan, M.D.
“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
“Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.” – Steve Prefontaine
“I am too tired, even to be happy.” – Gelindo Bordin after winning the Olympic Marathon in Seoul
“To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who’s never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.” – Jerome Drayton
“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.” – Doug Larson
“No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable.” – Sir Roger Bannister
“Those who say that I will lose and am finished will have to run over my body to beat me.” – Said Aouita
“No doubt a brain and some shoes are essential for marathon success, although if it comes down to a choice, pick the shoes. More people finish marathons with no brains than with no shoes.” – Don Kardong
“Dream barriers look very high until someone climbs them. Then they are not barriers anymore.” – Lasse Viren
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” – Bill Bowerman
“(Scientific testing) can’t determine how the mind will tolerate pain in a race. Sometimes, I say, ‘Today I can die.’” – Gelindo Bordin
“The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare.” – Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner
Happy trails!
Derek