Quotes on Great Running

How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre', 'You're not fast enough Pre', 'Give up your foolish dream Steve'. But they forgot something, I HAVE TO WIN.

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

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

But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

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.

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.

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.

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

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

Mind is everything. Muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.

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.

Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life

There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races?

People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.

There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing

There's no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes.

Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.