42 Short Running Quotes For A Runner’s Mindset
Short running quotes are great for reminding us why we want to be runners, and how it’s more often a mental challenge, rather than a physical one.
This collection of running quotes will inspire and motivate you – not just during the run, but most importantly as you talk yourself into getting out for your run.
Recently, I’ve gotten back into running by using the couch to 5K program. It’s a ‘slowly but surely’ way to build up to running 5km by the end of the 8th week. For me, when the enthusiasm has started to wane, I remind myself of how good I feel after I’ve completed the run – and that’s what gets me out the door!
“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
So if you need a little reminder, here is a great list of inspiring quotes to get you started or to keep you going with your running. You will be glad you did!
Short Running Quotes
“Running is a thing worth doing not because of the future rewards it bestows, but because of how it feeds our bodies and minds and souls in the present.” Kevin Nelson
“I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I’m competing with is me.” Wilma Rudolph
“Part of a runner’s training consists of pushing back the limits of his mind.” Kenny Moore
“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving.” Anatole France
“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
“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” Dean Karnazes
“The great thing about running is that you can get away to your own thoughts and get in a little bubble.” Alistair Brownlee
“Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.” Julie Isphording
“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
“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.” George Sheehan
“It’s not so much that I began to run, but that I continued.” Hal Higdon
“The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.” George Sheehan
“Believe that 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
“The problem is to keep the monkey mind from running off into all kinds of thoughts.” Lee Kuan Yew
“I am not running after gold medals; I am running after time. And once I get that, gold medals will run after me.” Hima Das
“I’ve learned that it’s what you do with the miles, rather than how many you’ve run.” Rod DeHaven
“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
“In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.” Mao Zedong
“Running like a bunny with his tail on fire.” Red Barber
“Running has taught me to love my brain, my body, and what both can do for me when I use them wisely and appreciate them.” Meggie Smith
“Fast running isn’t forced. You have to relax and let the run come out of you”. Desiree Linden
“Running alone is the toughest. You get to the point where you have to keep pushing yourself.” Walter Payton
“Happiness consists in activity. It is running steam, not a stagnant pool.” John Mason Good
“Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.” Tim Noakes
“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
“Running is my private time, my therapy, my religion.” Gail W. Kislevitz
“It’s all about starting momentum, hitting the ground running, and starting out hot.” Samoa Joe
“We shall not be happy unless we live like good animals, unless we enjoy the exercise of the ordinary functions of life: eating, sleeping, loving, walking, running, swimming, riding, sailing.” William Morris
“I’m not as fast or flexible as I once was but running keeps me young.” Nicole DeBoom
“The marathon is not really about the marathon, it’s about the shared struggle. And it’s not only the marathon, but the training.” Bill Buffum
“Darren Campbell, the British Olympic sprinter, was my sprint coach at Middlesbrough – yet the best advice he gave me was to slow down. That might sound strange but he said: ‘You have too much speed – you don’t always need to run at 100 per cent.’ I was used to running flat out every time, but he told me, ‘You know how quick you are, slow down.’” Adama Traore
“All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.” James Thurber
“Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually it passes and the flow returns. It’s part of racing.” Frank Shorter
“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.” Kathrine Switzer
“Pasta is the one food I can’t live without. It’s the food I eat to fuel my running.” Joe Bastianich
“Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness, and self-reliance.” Noel Carroll
“Cycling keeps me lean and I need to stay in shape, especially as I still like eating chocolate and ice-cream! I like to go mountain biking too. Running is also good; it’s what we were designed to do as humans, so it comes naturally.” Mark Webber
“No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.” Steve Prefontaine
“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” John Bingham
“Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.” Emil Zatopek
“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.” Jules Rendard
“Mind is everything: muscle – pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.” Paavo Nurmi
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