Top 25 Hal Higdon Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “The pride in finishing a marathon is much greater than all the pain endured during the marathon.”

— Hal Higdon

Featured in: Feel Good Quotes, Wednesday Motivational Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes, Running Quotes

2. “Motivation remains key to the marathon: the motivation to begin; the motivation to continue; the motivation never to quit.”

— Hal Higdon

Featured in: Never Give Up Quotes, Willpower Quotes, Fitness Quotes, You Got This Quotes

3. “I finished a marathon.”

— Hal Higdon

4. “The most important day in any running program is rest. Rest days give your muscles time to recover so you can run again. Your muscles build in strength as you rest.”

— Hal Higdon

5. “Keep your dream in front of you. Never let it go regardless of how farfetched it might seem.”

— Hal Higdon

6. “It can be said that the first half of the marathon is 20 miles long; the second half, 6.2 more.”

— Hal Higdon

7. “Life is a series of hard and easy runs.”

— Hal Higdon

8. “The marathon never ceases to be a race of joy, a race of wonder.”

— Hal Higdon

Featured in: Running Quotes

9. “We all have bad days and bad workouts, when running gets ugly, when split times seem slow, when you wonder why you started. It will pass.”

— Hal Higdon

Featured in: Running Quotes

10. “Rested, Refreshed, and Ready to run, the three Rs of peak performance.”

— Hal Higdon

11. “Finish: Even if you run a slower than expected time, you succeed in any marathon when you finish.”

— Hal Higdon

12. “Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.”

— Hal Higdon

13. “It is not so much that I began to run, but that I continued.”

— Hal Higdon

14. “There is no such thing as an average runner. We are all above average.”

— Hal Higdon

15. “How would you describe the worst run you ever had? Precious!”

— Hal Higdon

16. “Running long offers a dress rehearsal. Running long teaches the stress of lifting feet 5,000 times per hour. Running long builds confidence.”

— Hal Higdon

17. “I run, therefore I am. And given the years improved fitness adds to our lives, if I did not run, maybe I would no longer be.”

— Hal Higdon

18. “Each runner’s capacity to absorb hard training is different. Find your own unique level of comfort and success will be yours.”

— Hal Higdon

19. “The difference between the mile and the marathon is the difference between burning your fingers with a match and being slowly roasted over hot coals.”

— Hal Higdon

20. “Different people have different reasons for racing, but one is simply the incentive to get out and run, increase mileage and feel good.”

— Hal Higdon

21. “Some runners judge performance by whether they won or lost. Others define success or failure by how fast they ran. Only you can judge your performance. Avoid letting others sit in judgment of you.”

— Hal Higdon

22. “I double-knot my shoe laces. It’s a pain untying your shoes afterward-particularly if you get them wet-but so is stopping in the middle of a race to tie them.”

— Hal Higdon

23. “Putting miles in your training log is like putting money in the bank. You begin to draw interest on it immediately.”

— Hal Higdon

24. “I’d rather die smiling. And running makes me smile.”

— Hal Higdon

25. “What is the purpose of any one workout? Enjoyment? Improvement? Coach said so? Whatever, the hour you run often is the best hour of the day.”

— Hal Higdon

26. “In the big city, if the man next door happens to be a slum landlord, a Mafia bag man, or a long distance runner, what does it matter, as long as he puts his garbage out on Tuesdays?”

— Hal Higdon