Top 35 Amby Burfoot Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly.”

— Amby Burfoot

2. “I have learned that there is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving.”

— Amby Burfoot

3. “It’s not about how fast you go. It’s not about how far you go. It’s a process.”

— Amby Burfoot

4. “If you train your mind for running, everything else will be easy.”

— Amby Burfoot

Featured in: Running Quotes

5. “Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don’t have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.”

— Amby Burfoot

6. “Courage is crossing a starting line.”

— Amby Burfoot

7. “In running, it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are relative to anyone else. You set your own pace and you measure your own progress. You can’t lose this race because you’re not running against anyone else. You’re only running against yourself, and as long as you are running, you are winning.”

— Amby Burfoot

8. “As we run, we become.”

— Amby Burfoot

9. “That’s the beauty of starting lines: Until you begin a new venture, you never know what awaits you.”

— Amby Burfoot

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

— Amby Burfoot

11. “You have to want it, you have to plan for it, you have to fit it into a busy day, you have to be mentally tough, you have to use others to help you. The hard part isn’t getting your body in shape. The hard part is getting your mind in shape.”

— Amby Burfoot

12. “Best wishes for a great marathon. Be sure to savor it. The first marathon is something special. Run long and healthy.”

— Amby Burfoot

13. “Don’t judge your running by your speed.”

— Amby Burfoot

14. “It’s not about speed and gold medals. It’s about refusing to be stopped.”

— Amby Burfoot

15. “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

16. “I always tell beginning runners: Train your brain first. It’s much more important than your heart or legs.”

— Amby Burfoot

17. “Everyone stumbles at one time or another. It’s the human condition.”

— Amby Burfoot

18. “It’s what runners do. We keep on keeping on.”

— Amby Burfoot

19. “The most powerful lesson you can learn in running? You’re capable of much more than you think.”

— Amby Burfoot

20. “Running removes us briefly from the fragmentation and depersonalization of the digital world.”

— Amby Burfoot

21. “I’ve always liked hills. I see a challenge, a goal, and I feel instantly galvanized to achieve that goal.”

— Amby Burfoot

22. “Motivation is a skill. It can be learned and practiced.”

— Amby Burfoot

23. “Set a goal and a program for yourself, and everything else will follow. Guaranteed.”

— Amby Burfoot

24. “Too many people have refused to begin running or have quickly dropped out of running programs because they ‘have no talent for it.’ Ridiculous. Talent has nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is mental discipline.”

— Amby Burfoot

25. “Runners don’t quit. We fade; we “hit the wall”; we’re sometimes reduced to a walk. But we keep on.”

— Amby Burfoot

26. “Here’s my mantra: ‘Every mile is a gift.’”

— Amby Burfoot

27. “I run because I enjoy it – not always, but most of the time. I run because I have always run – not trained, but run. What do I get? Joy and pain. Good health and injuries. Exhilaration and despair. A feeling of accomplishment and a feeling of waste. The sunrise and the sunset.”

— Amby Burfoot

28. “Running is ultimately a personal experience. It is a revival of the spirit, a private oasis for the thirsty mind. Yet, its healing power only increases in the presence of others. Run together and the oasis grows cooler and more satisfying.”

— Amby Burfoot

29. “In the longest run of all, your life, you’re going to be a winner.”

— Amby Burfoot

30. “Success does not come to the most righteous and rigorously disciplined but to those who continue running.”

— Amby Burfoot

31. “I like to say, and I truly believe, that every run brings new experiences. You just don’t know what they might be until you actually do the run. That’s one of my major reasons for pushing out the front door as often as I do-the adventure of it all.”

— Amby Burfoot

32. “I’ve never known a runner who had as much patience as he needed.”

— Amby Burfoot

33. “Once upon a time, about 20 years ago, runners believed they didn’t have to do anything but run.”

— Amby Burfoot

34. “And, finally, I run because there’s no better way to see the sun rise and set.”

— Amby Burfoot

35. “While none of us can know for sure that running will add years to our life, there’s no doubt it will add life to our years.”

— Amby Burfoot

36. “I run because I am an animal. I run because it is part of my genetic wiring. I run because millions of years of evolution have left me programmed to run. And, finally, I run because there’s no better way to see the sun rise and set.”

— Amby Burfoot