My Top 25 Favorite Running Quotes

I love running, plain and simple. Running has made me a stronger, more confident, more motivated version of myself. It has helped me realize how much of my life I have spent underestimating myself, and that I really can accomplish amazing things I once never thought I could. In short, running has changed my life. It's taught me so much about myself, and has given me a new outlook on life. That being said, I think every runner can admit that some days it's just hard to get out the door, or to overcome those voices during a long run to just throw in the towel early and quit. Fortunately, I have an emergency stash of my favorite running quotes I have accumulated to go through when I lack motivation or forget why I choose to run in the first place.

It's truly amazing what just a few motivational words can do to your attitude and your mindset about something. This is why I felt it would be a good idea to share some of my favorite running quotes, in hopes that they could motivate others as well. Some are heart-felt and inspirational, and others are just kind of a nice kick in the pants!

So, here they are:

1) Ask yourself: "Can I give more?" The answer is usually yes. - Paul Tergat

2) Sweat cleanses form the inside, it comes for a place a shower will never reach. - George Sheehan

3) Never underestimate the power that one good workout will have on your mind, keeping the dream alive is half the battle. - Kara Goucher

4) The human body is capable of amazing physical deeds. If we could just free ourselves from out perceived limitations and tap into out eternal fire, the possibilities are endless. - Dean Karnazes

5) It's important to remember that each footstrike carries you forward, not backward. And every time you put on your running shoes you are different in some way than you were the day before. - John Bingham

6) Just move your legs. Because if you don't think you were born to run, you're not only denying history; you're denying who you are. - Dr. Dennis Bramble

7) Some of the worlds greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. - Doug Larson

8) Running is a big questions 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

9) Running isn't about how far you go but how far you've come. - Bart Yasso

10) There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people. - Bill Bowerman

11) I am building a fire, and everyday i train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match. - Mia Hamm

12) The best way to become a mentally tough runner is to believe you are a mentally tough runner. - Ryan Hall

13) The first person you have to inspire everyday is yourself. Running will do that. - Marc Parent

14) That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are the moments in time when runnin gallows you to see how wonderful your life is. -Kara Goucher

15) Running is not, as it so often seems, about what you did in your last race or how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community, about appreciating all the miles run by others too. - Richard O'Brien

16) Running requires endurance, character, pride, physical strength, and mental toughness. Running is a test, not a game. A test of faith, belief, will, and trust in one's self. So hardcore that it needs a category all to itself to define the pain. Running is more than a sport; it's a lifestyle. - Jessica Probst

17) 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

18) Running should be a lifelong activity. Approach it patiently and intelligently, and it will reward you for a long, long time. - Michael Sargent

19) 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 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. - Sir Roger Bannister

20) To keep from decaying, to be a winner, the athlete must accept pain - not only accept it, but look for it, live with it, and learn not to fear it. - Dr. George Sheehan

21) Running unites us and brings us together because, in the words of the great Bill Rogers, "We sweat the same. We struggle the same." 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. Toeing the starting line of a marathon, regardless of the language you speak, the God you worship or the color of your skin, we all stand as equal. Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people ran. - Dean Karnazes

22) Believe you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself. - John Bingham

23) There are a million reasons why you can't. Focus on the few reasons why you can. - Kara Goucher

24) I want to get more comfortable being uncomfortable. I want to get more confident in being uncertain. i don't want to shrink back just because something isn't easy. i want to push back, and make more room in the area between I can't and I can. Maybe that spot is called I will. - Kristin Armstrong

25) I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired just 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

If you somehow are still in front of the computer at this point, I hope these quotes have at least given you some inspiration and something to think about and hold on to for future reference! Cheers, and happy running!