Marathon Quotes

• If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.

  Kathrine Switzer

  Faith, Sports, Running

  "This Inspiring, Blind Young Man Is Running the NYC Marathon to Save Lives" by Sibylle Eschapasse, www.theepochtimes.com. October 29, 2015.

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

  Steve Prefontaine

  Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership

  "Pre: Americas Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine". Book by Tom Jordan, 1977.

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• If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

  Emil Zatopek

  Running, Different, Want

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• When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.

  Haile Gebrselassie

  Running, Distance, Half Marathons

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  Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

  T. S. Eliot

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  T.S. Eliot (2015). “The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume I: Collected and Uncollected Poems”, p.1250, Faber & Faber

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• You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.

  Frank Shorter

  Inspirational, Running, Mind

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• Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator and spiritual communion.

  Lorraine Moller

  Sports, Running, Spiritual

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• The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon.

  Robert de Castella

  Running, Able, Lasts

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

  John Bingham

  Inspirational, Softball, Sports

  John Bingham (1999). “The Courage To Start: A Guide To Running for Your Life”, p.210, Simon and Schuster

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• 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.

  Christopher McDougall

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

  Christopher McDougall (2010). “Born to Run: The hidden tribe, the ultra-runners, and the greatest race the world has never seen”, p.13, Profile Books

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• There are times when you run a marathon and you wonder, Why am I doing this? But you take a drink of water, and around the next bend, you get your wind back, remember the finish line, and keep going.

  Steve Jobs

  Running, Bad Day, Wind

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• To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.

  Jerome Drayton

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

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• It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

  George A. Sheehan

  Motivational, Running, Ideas

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• The marathon can humble you.

  Bill Rodgers

  Running, Humble, Boston Marathon

  Bill Rodgers, Matthew Shepatin (2013). “Marathon Man: My 26.2-Mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World”, p.274, Macmillan

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• The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon.

  Fred Lebow

  Running, Dream, Drama

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• Marathoning is a metaphor for life, so there are a lot of parallels you can draw. I tell people to follow your dream, follow your heart, follow your passion, run your own race and believe in yourself. I think anybody who wants to succeed has to have passion. My love for this sport, you can't instill it in someone else.

  Joan Benoit

  Love, Life, Motivational

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  Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things.

  Joe Paterno

  Life, Uplifting, Running

  "We were..." by Wright Thompson, www.espn.com. November 24, 2011.

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• Good things come slow, especially in distance running.

  Bill Dellinger

  Running, Giving Up, Distance

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• Hills are speedwork in disguise.

  Frank Shorter

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

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• Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.

  Lynn Jennings

  Motivational, Sports, Running

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  The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.

  Jacqueline Gareau

  Motivational, Fitness, Running

  "Diversification and Discipline Are Key to Investing in Gold" by Frank Holmes, www.businessinsider.com. August 21, 2014.

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• 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.

  John Bingham

  Running, Years, Tests

  John Bingham (1999). “The Courage To Start: A Guide To Running for Your Life”, p.14, Simon and Schuster

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• Marathons are extraordinarily difficult, but if you've got the training under your belt, and if you can run smart, the races take care of themselves. When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.

  Deena Kastor

  Running, Smart, Passion

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• Aiming for the marathon is a task of sorts which can include terrific highs and lows.

  Bill Rodgers

  Running, Tasks, Lows

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• The marathon is all about energy management. I had planned to run it like a track race with strategic surges to blow up my competitors by putting them into oxygen debt, so that is the way I prepared.

  Frank Shorter

  Sports, Running, Blow

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