Top 100 Running Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “One chance is all you need.”

— Jesse Owens

52. “The only one who can beat me is me.”

— Michael Johnson

53. “There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.”

— Dean Karnazes

54. “Part of a runner’s training consists of pushing back the limits of his mind.”

— Kenny Moore

55. “A runner must run with dreams in his heart.”

— Emil Zatopek

56. “Pain is the body’s way of ridding itself of weakness.”

— Dean Karnazes

57. “Running is alone time that lets my brain unspool the tangles that build up over days.”

— Rob Haneisen

58. “A race is a work of art.”

— Steve Prefontaine

59. “What I like most about track is the feeling I get after a good run.”

— Steve Prefontaine

60. “I often hear someone say I’m not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner.”

— Bart Yasso

61. “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.”

— Steve Prefontaine

62. “Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.”

— Haile Gebrselassie

63. “I run because it always takes me where I want to go.”

— Dean Karnazes

64. “I’m a runner first before anything else.”

— Haile Gebrselassie

65. “Indeed, the marathon wouldn’t be a big deal if it didn’t require a little blood, a lot of sweat, and perhaps a few tears.”

— Luke Humphrey

66. “It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.”

— Carl Lewis

67. “Any goal worth achieving involves an element of risk.”

— Dean Karnazes

68. “We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves.”

— Roger Bannister

69. “We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.”

— Alberto Salazar

70. “It’s a treat being a runner, out in the world by yourself with not a soul to make you bad-tempered or tell you what to do.”

— Alan Sillitoe

71. “I always tell my athletes, don’t confuse difficulty with failure.”

— Eric Orton

72. “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”

— John Muir

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

— Dean Karnazes

74. “Want a strong, solid relationship that is willing to go the distance? Get to know your running shoes.”

— Dean Karnazes

75. “But I also realize that winning doesn’t always mean getting first place; it means getting the best out of yourself.”

— Meb Keflezighi

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

— Oprah Winfrey

77. “Never underestimate the power that one good workout can have on your mind. Keeping the dream alive is half the battle.”

— Kara Goucher

78. “Train where your fitness is NOW, not where you want to be.”

— Scott Jurek

79. “I always want to give more than I gave yesterday.”

— Allyson Felix

80. “We all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it.”

— Deena Kastor

81. “Running is a simple, primitive act, and therein lays its power. For it is one of the few commonalities left between us as a human race.”

— Dean Karnazes

82. “Channel your energy. Focus.”

— Carl Lewis

83. “Triumph over adversity that’s what the marathon is all about. Nothing in life can’t triumph after that.”

— Kathrine Switzer

84. “Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?”

— Peter Maher

85. “You are truly your own hero in running. It is up to you to have the responsibility and self-discipline to get the job done.”

— Adam Goucher

86. “I love to run and I have some tips to keep it fresh and novel. I rarely use the same route twice. That keeps things new.”

— Dean Karnazes

87. “You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”

— Frank Shorter

88. “I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”

— Steve Prefontaine

89. “Nature’s arena has a way of humbling and energizing us.”

— Scott Jurek

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

— Hal Higdon

91. “Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be.”

— Joyce Carol Oates

92. “Of all the races, there is no better stage for heroism than a marathon.”

— George A. Sheehan

93. “We are designed to run and we increase our chance of daily happiness when we do so.”

— Jeff Galloway

94. “The mile has all the elements of a drama.”

— Roger Bannister

95. “If you keep chasing your dreams, one day you’ll catch them.”

— Dean Karnazes

96. “Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances.”

— Roger Bannister

97. “I work hard, and I do good, and I’m going to enjoy myself. I’m not going to let you restrict me.”

— Usain Bolt

98. “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

99. “I am a big believer in visualization. I run through my races mentally so that I feel even more prepared.”

— Allyson Felix

100. “Deny your nature, and it will erupt in some other, uglier way.”

— Christopher McDougall