Any good quotes about the sport of running? (xc, track, or just running)?

Question

Just wondering if you guys know any good quotes about running that I can use?

It could be about cross country, track, or just running in general.

--Thanks :D

Answer 1

"When the running gets tough the tough get running"

"If We were playing tag, you'd always be it."

"Nothing Runs Like a  ______"

"run til its too late to turn back"

i like they mile in shoes one.

"If You Can Read This You Are Running to Slow"

Answer 2

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."

Tom Fleming's Boston Marathon Training Motto

"In the '70's, I was a school teacher and trained at 5AM and 5PM. During wintertime, I never saw the sun."

Tom Fleming (one of the all time great American runners. Won the New York Marathon twice, took second at Boston two times.)

"Runners like to train 100 miles per week because it's a round number. But I think 88 is a lot rounder."

Don Kardong

"Who runs in circles never gets far."

Thornton W. Burgess, Bowser the Hound

"I run because it's my passion, and not just a sport. Every time I walk out the door, I know why I'm going where I'm going and I'm already focused on that special place where I find my peace and solitude. Running, to me, is more than just a physical exercise...it's a consistent reward for victory!"

Sasha Azevedo, Runner Athlete

"There ain't no shame looking at a good runner's back. Now, if the runner sucks, that's something else entirely…"

The Rage, Training Tips "Comeback"

"There are actually people who cheat at race walks; they enter a race walk, then run to win. You know you've given up in life when you cheat at a race walk. You've decided that you're so pathetic the only way you can win is by cheating against people who aren't even competing."

Michael Logsdon

"The idea of losing the three at Hayward Field and the idea of losing my specialty to someone who wasn’t running his specialty. Mostly, the idea of losing in front of my people.

They haven’t forgotten about me."

Steve Prefontaine, when asked by a reporter how he managed to muster up enough strength on the last 200 to catch Frank Shorter by .6 of a second and establish a new American 3 mile record at 12:51.4.

"From now on, I’m going to be a dirty son of a *****. I’m going to foul a lot of people. I’ll get thrown out of a few races, but it's time we Americans learned to run like the Europeans."

Steve Prefontaine in an interview with Bert Nelson of Track & Field News, following his courageous run at a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics, after being cut off twice by Mohamed Gamoudi of Tunisia in the 5000 meter final, who edged an exhausted Pre in the last five meters for the bronze medal.

"When you run like I do, top tens are hard to come by and it usually means a lot of good runners don't show up."

The Rage on Running in a Thin Field

"A good hill definitely levels the playing field for a lot of runners, which means more of us not only will run closer together, but we will get a quality workout that would not be the same otherwise."

The Rage on Beating Your Buddies

"...just like Charlie don't surf...trout don't run...they swim. Runners have slimey protective coatings too, after a few hard laps... but that's where it ends, baby...If trout ran...they would understand that pain is just a state of mind...they would not need a bunch of tree huggers to sympathize with their plight..."

The Rage on Wimpy Trout

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."

Bruce Barton

"You only get to negatively affect your DNA."

Manciata's explanation for why some people can't run a marathon.

"(Scientific testing) can't determine how the mind will tolerate pain in a race. Sometimes, I say, 'Today I can die.'"

Gelindo Bordin

"rapid motion through space elates one"

James Joyce

"No doubt a brain and some shoes are essential for marathon success, although if it comes down to a choice, pick the shoes. More people finish marathons with no brains than with no shoes."

Don Kardong

"There is no time to think about how much I hurt; there is only time to run."

Ben Logsdon

"I am in a world of pain, but I'm happy. I survived the water obstacle and I can't even swim."

Briton Mark Hawkins, finisher from Bristol, in the 2002 World Wife-Carrying Championships

"Even if you fall flat on your face·at least you are moving forward."

Sue Luke

"Maybe I shouldn't have had breakfast at Denny's."

Jordan Kent (who vomited after running the 400 meters in the 2002 USA Junior National Championships held in Eugene, OR)

"My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: 'Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win....Channel your energy. Focus.'"

Carl Lewis

"The longer the race, the shorter the champ."

Manciata

"Roger Bannister studied the four-minute mile the way Jonas Salk studied polio—with a view to eradicating."

Jim Murray, LA Times

"No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."

Sir Roger Bannister

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

Sir Roger Bannister

"The mile has all the elements of a drama."

Sir Roger Bannister

"The trouble with a rat race is that even when you win, you're still a rat."

Lily Tomlin

"I don't believe in burnout. I believe in losing your appetite."

Pat Tyson

"Your shoes are only as good as the laces they're attached to."

Greg Sampson

"Some people endure pain better than others. All things considered, the ability to withstand—or even deny—pain would seem to be a valuable ally for the long distance runner in search of significant improvement. In truth, it is probably a double-edged sword, since medical experts tell us that pain is the body's warning signal to back off, and that to ignore such schedules is to roll the dice with both body and mind."

Mark Will-Weber, The Quotable Runner

"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."

Juha "the Cruel" Väätäinen

"Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better."

Juha "the Cruel" Väätäinen

"I want to be alone now."

Some honest feedback from a runner reacting to some attempted encouragement by one of their van mates who made the mistake of running along side and offering too much positive support during the Jasper to Banff Relay. ( Runner's Tip: While perhaps not as polite, a simple hand gesture is not only more direct in terms of honest feedback, it is also more aerobically efficient).

"There will come a point in the race, when you alone will need to decide. You will need to make a choice. Do you really want it? You will need to decide."

Rolf Arands

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Tom Sobal, World Snowshoe Racing Champion

"When the guy says go, you start to suffer -- or you might as well not be out there. It's a small piece of your life, make it hurt."

Aaron Cox, Winner of US Mountain Biking Championship

"Let's face it. Handicaps were made for golfers and bowlers. There's no reason to hold back and sandbag a 10k time. Despite press and media devoted to the contrary, running was never intended to feel good. Running is not a lifestyle choice. Simply put, It's a sport."

Manciata, after reading the latest issue of Runner's World

"I ran and ran every day, and I acquired a sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never, give up, no matter what else happened."

Wilma Rudolph, US track star (from Wilma).

"It's better to burn out than to fade away."

Tom Petty

"Road racing is rock 'n roll; track is Carnegie Hall."

Marty Liquori

"Sure you have to know your capabilities. An untested, out of shape person should walk if he or she is feeling exhausted in practice or in a race. But the pain felt racing is the temporal price one has to pay for the ephemeral experience of a race well run."

Manciata in "Say it Ain't So Rage"

"It’s probably the toughest distance race in the world to win. World class runners from 1500m to the marathon contest it and instead of just three runners from each country, like in the Olympics or World Championships, in the senior men's race there are nine."

Paul Tergat of Kenya, comments about the IAAF World Cross Country Championships

"The single biggest change in middle-distance running, from the 1500 metres to 10,000 metres, has been the track surface."

Herb Elliott

"The greatest stimulator of my running career was fear."

Herb Elliott

"Most mistakes in a race are made in the first two minutes, perhaps in the very first minute."

Jack Daniels, Exercise Physiologist and Coach

"When you see a guy go down, you smell blood in the water."

Anthony Famiglietti, American Steeplechaser's comment about 3,000 meter Steeplechase leader Tim Broe's fall at the final barrier during the 2001 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

"I was totally into football, totally into mainstream sports my whole life...The media has tried to categorize me, call me a hippie, call me alternative. I work hard. My social life and beliefs don't get in the way of my training."

Gabe Jennings, who gave up football his freshman year becoming one of America's best high school milers.

"I feel the earth and the wind and the trees. I feel its spirit. It puts me in the moment. I feel the rhythm

Answer 3

I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.  ~Neil Armstrong

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

Answer 4

My son's track coach used this one: "If you can't win the race, make the person in front of you break the record."

Answer 5

It's more of a comedial quote but it envolves running :D :

" Before i judge someone I run a mile in their shoes. That way, when I do judge them, I'm a mile away and I have their shoes :D "

ok.... seriously though, here's  good ones:

"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 a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

          - Inspirational sign on a runner's office wall

The Essence of Running

Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance …

you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh

reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast

quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin

beneath your feet.

But when you are through, exhilarated and exhausted,

at least for a moment everything seems right with the world…

"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

and last but not least:

Mike Fanelli, club coach

-I tell runners to divide a race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.

Answer 6

"I don't just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting."

"What I want is to be number one."

-both from Pre

in general:

Real athletes run others just play games

Running is real and relatively simple…but it ain't easy.

Answer 7

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

-Steve Prefontaine

"Me and running don't always see eye to eye. Somedays it hurts more than others. But it doesn't mean I don't do it. I deal with it and i keep runnning because not everything that is good for you always feels good for you. Every day is the day."

-Lance Armstrong

"Beating that guy by a foot is a h**l of a lot better than losing by one"

-Me