Turtles Can Run

Some of my favorite inspirational and motivational running quotes.

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

“All that running and exercise can do for you is make you healthy.”
-Denny McLain

“Running helps me be more productive…I’ll be running until I’m a little old lady.” -Claudine Schneider, Congresswoman

“Running is play, for even if we try hard to do well at it, it is a relief from everyday cares.”
- Jim Fixx

“Have a dream, make a plan, go for it. You’ll get there, I promise.”
-Zoe Koplowitz, Achilles Track Club member with ms who required 24 hours on crutches but finished the 1993 New York City Marathon

“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, U.S. Olympian

“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.”                       -Nike running poster

“The human body can do so much.  Then the heart and spirit must take over.”
-Sohn Kee- Chung

“Run hard, be strong, think big!”
-Percy Cerutty

“Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator and spiritual communion.”
-Lorraine Moller of New Zealand, winner of the bronze meal in the 1992 Olympic marathon

“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, runner

“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

“I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I’m competing with is me.”
-Wilma Rudolph

“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

“If you under-train, you may not finish, but if you over-train, you may not start.”
-Stan Jensen

“If you set your aim too high and don’t fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that’s reasonable, and then gradually raise it.”
-Emil Zatopek

“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

“For me, like so many others, running is the answer. Out on the road it is just you, the pavement, and your will.”
-John Bingham

“Sport, like all life, is about taking your chances.”
-Roger Bannister

“Keep your dream in front of you. Never let it go regardless of how far fetched it might seem.”
-Hal Higdon

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
-William Faulkner

“I can’t imagine living and not running.”
-Paula Radcliffe

“My outlook is that I never want to look back and wonder how fast I could have been.”
-Doug Mock

“If you want to achieve a high goal, you’re going to have to take some chances.”
-Alberto Salazar

“There’s nothing a man can’t do if the spirit’s there.”
-Franz Stampfl

“When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.”
-Deena Kastor

“To get to the finish line, you’ll have to try lots of different paths.”
-Amby Burfoot

“Running gives me confidence.”
-Steve Prefontaine

“If a man coaches himself, then he has only himself to blame when he is beaten.”
Sir Roger Bannister

“Last is just the slowest winner.”
-C. Hunter Boyd

“If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
-Michael Jordan

“As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are.”
-Joan Benoit Samuelson

“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

“For me, as for so many runners, there really are no finish lines. Runs end; running doesn’t.”
-Dean Karnazes

“Running is about finding your inner peace, and so is a life well lived.”
-Dean Karnazes

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you’re going to while away the years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive then in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole. I believe many runners would agree”
— Haruki Murakami (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running)

“You don’t stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.”— Christopher McDougall, Born to Run

“I’ve learned that finishing a marathon isn’t just an athletic achievement. It’s a state of mind that says anything is possible.”
-John Hanc

“Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it’s hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run.”
-Monte Davis

Do you have a favorite quote about running?  If you do I’d love to hear it.

Slow and Steady Still Finishes the Race

-Middalia Wayman

Filed under: Running Blog