Inspirational Running Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old inspirational running quotes, inspirational running sayings, and inspirational running proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

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
Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring. Jimmy Carter
Running is not, as it so often seems, only about what you did in your last race or about how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community, about appreciating all the miles run by other runners, too. Richard O'Brien
We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves…The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.” Fred Lebow
Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight. Lance Armstrong
It's just as important to remember that each footstike carries you forward, not backward. And every time you put on your running shoes you are different in come way than you were the day before. This is all good news. John Bingham
Running makes you an athlete in all areas of life...trained in the basics, prepared for whatever comes, ready to fill each hour and deal with the decisive moment. George A. Sheehan
I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart. Mike Fanelli
The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life. George Sheehan
The fears you run from run to you. Robin S. Sharma
Have confidence in your running ability, and then be tough enough to follow through until you reach your running goals. Felicity Luckey
To get in the best running shape of your life, you have to do something you've never done. Felicity Luckey
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
On your path to running success, remember to enjoy the journey. Felicity Luckey
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 and run long, but never outrun your joy of running. Julie Isphording
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
Running allows me to set my mind free. Nothing seems impossible. Nothing unattainable. Kara Goucher
The real purpose of running isn't to win a race. It's to test the limits of the human heart. Bill Bowerman
An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head. Emil Zatopek
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. Doris Brown Heritage
When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time. Haile Gebrselassie
Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run. Jumbo Elliot
You can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week, or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime. Mark Allen
You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running. Christopher McDougall
Running cleared the day's cobwebs from my mind and focused my thinking, and gave me time and space to sort out anything that was bothering me, or to detach and think of nothing at all. Jeff Horowitz
That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is. Kara Goucher
Running has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a 'good runner' because I am me. I am a good 'me' because I am a runner. Kristin Armstrong
I keep running away, As if from something, As if to something. I keep running away, As if from myself, As if to myself. Jenim Dibie
Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started. Steve Prefontaine
Running has never failed to give me great end results, and that's why I keep coming back for more! Sasha Azevedo
To attain your running goals, imagination is everything. It is a preview of the runner you will be in the future. Felicity Luckey
‘If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it. Priscilla Welch
All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing. No matter what anybody else says. Haruki Murakami
In running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions. Glenn Cunningham
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
The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world. Orison Swett Marden
Running isn't about winning or losing, it's neither about glory or achievement, it's all about not quitting. Ben Vachon
Your running dreams of yesterday are your running hopes of today and the reality of your tomorrow. Felicity Luckey
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
Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running. Julie Isphording
When you experience the run, you…relive the hunt. Running is about thirty miles of chasing prey that can outrun you in a sprint, and tracking it down and bringing life back to your village. It's a beatiful thing. Shawn Found
Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts. Steve Prefontaine
Pain is temporary; Pride lasts forever." I saw that sign at mile 15 while I was running my first marathon and it inspired me the rest of the run. DAR
Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it. Oprah Winfrey
Worrying gets you nowhere. If you turn up worrying about how you're going to perform, you've already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself. Usain Bolt
It is never too late to set another running goal or to dream a new running dream. Felicity Luckey
We all have dreams, in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, self-discipline and effort. Jesse Owens
Running well is a matter of having the patience to persevere when we are tired and not expecting instant results. Robert de Castella
The answer to the big questions in running is the same as the answer to the big questions in life: Do the best with what you've got. Dr. George Sheehan
Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up. Dean Karnazes