73 Motivational Running Quotes (For All Kinds of Runners)

You might shrug off a lot of quotes as cliche or trite, but the truth is that a good motivational running quote can change your run. It shifts the mindset and gives you a new way to look at your struggle.

Every runner needs a little bit of motivation every now or then, and a running quote is one of the best ways to get going.

Whether you’re a seasoned runner, or just starting off, you’re sure to find something here that will give you that extra little push today.

Why Running Quotes Work So Well

Science says this is why we so love those marathon running quotes:

• It’s like hearing someone else say they believe in you
• It’s like having a coach in your head to guide you through
• We know word choice matters in our training (have to vs get to)
• We like having role models, they give us things to aspire to
• They help us convey to others feelings we often can’t put into words

It’s easy to get caught up in the logistics behind achieving goals. The numbers, the miles, the hours spent, the grueling early mornings or late nights, the injuries – that we sometimes lose track of why we started the journey, to begin with.

How Running Quotes Have Helped Me

So if you’re anything like me thinking about your own big running goals, I hope these quotes might help you too!

It’s common to have marathon training burn out after running for a long time, which means we have to find ways to mentally get back to why we run.

We run because we love it – the freedom it gives us, the goal to focus on, the way it makes us feel.

But occasionally, we just aren’t feeling it! We don’t have the energy to lace up the shoes and head out the door, or to find a new marathon or goal to set. It happens.

So for those moments, sometimes all I need is a few extra words of encouragement that will motivate me to keep going, to remember why I started running in the first place, and to know that I am not alone with this!

Running Quotes for Marathon Training

So you signed up to run 26.2 and are second guessing it now? Yes, it happens!

Those long  cold-weather runs don’t always sound appealing, but you signed up because it was something you knew you could do.

1. “The race always hurts. Expect it to hurt. You don’t train so it doesn’t hurt. You train so you can tolerate it.” – Unknown
2. “I always say if the marathon is a part-time interest, you will only get part-time results.” – Bill Rodgers
3. “You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming” – Frank Shorter
4. “In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.” – Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder
5. “When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.” – Haile Gebrselassie
6. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes
7. “If you want to run, then run a mile. If you want to experience another life, run a marathon.” – Emil Zatopek
8. “The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”- Juma Ikangaa
9. “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” – John Bingham
10. “You must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. The human spirit is indomitable.” – Roger Bannister, first sub-four-minute mile runner
11. “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 Sheehan
12. “I succeed on my own personal motivation, dedication, and commitment. My mindset is: If I’m not out there training, someone else is.” – Lynn Jennings
13. “The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart.” – Bill Bowerman
14. “Get going … walk if you have to but finish the damned race.” – Ron Hill
15. “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”  – Dan Gable
16. “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

 

Running Quotes for Personal Growth

Growth isn’t just physical with running.

While being healthy and active are strong motivating reasons, there are also a lot of mental and emotional benefits from running as well! It’s important to always remember that.

17. “For an athlete, the biggest pressure comes from within. You know what you want to do and what you’re capable of.” – Paula Radcliffe
18. “If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you could do it” – Priscilla Welsh
19. “Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.” – Doug Larson
20. “Confidence is not some nonphysical quality snatched from the spiritual dimension and installed in the mind. It is the feeling that arises when the body’s knowledge of itself is in harmony with a person’s dreams.” – Matt Fitzgerald
21. “Out on the roads, there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be.” – George Sheehan
22. “I cannot live without it now. When you have such a good workout, it clears everything up mentally, physically, and you just have a better day.” – Minka Kell
23. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle 
24. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
25. “The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.” – George Sheehan
26. “A lot of people run a race to see who’s the fastest.  I run to see who has the most guts.” – Steve Prefontaine

Running Quotes for Perseverance

For those moments when you wonder if you have enough strength to continue on. You do! We all do.

It’s all about finding your inner grit.

27. “We all have dreams, in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” – Jesse Owens, Olympic gold-medalist
28. “All you need is the courage to believe in yourself and put one foot in front of the other.” – Kathrine Switzer
29. “It could all end tomorrow, so enjoy what you have and never take it for granted. And never forget to take an easy run for yourself once in a while and just remember why you love to run.” – Dathan Ritzenhein
30. “Ask yourself: ‘Can I give more?’ The answer is usually: ‘Yes’.” – Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner
31. “When you recognize that failing doesn’t make you a failure, you give yourself permission to try all sorts of things.” – Lauren Fleshman
32. “Never underestimate the power that one good workout can have on your mind. Keeping the dream alive is half the battle.” – Kara Goucher
33. “Run hard when it’s hard to run” – Pavvo
34. “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
35. “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”  – Lance Armstrong

Running Quotes to Keep You Inspired

Inspiration for running usually comes from within, but sometimes we just need that extra little nudge to help us keep going.

36. “Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.” – Julie Isphording
37. “I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go.” – Dean Karnazes
38. “Most runners hope running will always be a part of their lives. I’ll be happy if running and I can grow old together.” – Haruki Murakami
39. “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
40. “If you don’t think you were born to run you’re not only denying history. You’re denying who you are.” – Christopher McDougall
41. “Everyone in life is looking for a certain rush. Racing is where I get mine.” – John Trautmann
42. “If you train your mind for running, everything else will be easy.” Amby Burfoot
43. “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
44. “But I also realize that winning doesn’t always mean getting first place; it means getting the best out of yourself.” – Meb Keflezighi

Running Quotes to Help You Remember Why You Started

It’s easy for life to take over and for us to forget why we started running in the first place. For those situations, here’s something that’ll help you remember why you started in the first place:

45. “You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” – Steve Prefontaine, U.S. Olympic runner and running legend
46. “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” – Oprah Winfrey
47. “Running is my private time, my therapy, my religion.” – Gail W. Kislevitz
48. “I run because it’s so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can’t. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought.”- Arthur Blank
49. “There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.” – Kristin Armstrong
50. “There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.” – Dean Karnazes
51. “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
52. “Our running shoes have magic in them. The power to transform a bad day into a good day; frustration into speed; self-doubt into confidence; chocolate cake into muscle.” – Mina Samuels
53. “A good laugh and a long run are the two best cures for anything.” – Unknown
54. “Running is that big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’” – Peter Maher, Olympic marathoner
55. “Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator, and spiritual communion.” – Lorraine Moller
56. “Something happens to me when I run. People think it’s crazy when I say it. All of my ideas come in when I run. That is my time where it’s just me, where I get to create.” – Theo Rossi

Running Quotes for Your Next Run

Not feeling up for your next run? It happens to the best of us. But there’s always something to look forward to, there’s always something to help us keep going.

57. “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
58. “Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go.”- T.S. Elliot
59. “Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running.” – Sarah Condor
60. “Running is alone time that lets my brain unspool the tangles that build up over days. I run, pound it out on the pavement, channel that energy into my legs, and when I’m done with my run, I’m done with it.” – Rob Haneisen
61. “Run like hell and get the agony over with.” – Clarence DeMar
62. “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
63. “When it’s pouring rain and you’re bowling along through the wet, there’s satisfaction in knowing you’re out there and the others aren’t.”- Peter Snell
64. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” – Haruki Murakami
65. “If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.” – Christopher McDougall
66. “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
67. “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” – Bill Bowerman

Other Great Motivational Running Quotes

68. “It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination.” – John Bingham
69. “Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.” – Joyce Carol Oates
70. “You can’t flirt with the track, you must marry it.” – Bill Easton
71. “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”– Dean Karnazes
72. “There’s not one body type that equates to success. Accept the body you have and be the best you can be with it.” – Mary Cullen
73. “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy… I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” –Art Williams

Do you have any motivational quotes you read when you need that extra boost? I’d love to read what some of your favorites quotes are!

Looking for additional running motivation?

• Running mantras – to repeat while running
• Funny running quotes – to remember it’s not that serious
• Endurance quotes – thinking beyond race day to training
• Best Friend quotes – a way to say thanks to your running buddies
• Strength Training Quotes – motivate yourself to do it!!

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