Words of wisdom to get you pumped up for training and races

"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."

Priscialla Welch, Olympian & NYC Marathon winner


"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."

Steve Prefontaine


"For me, running is a lifestyle and an art. I'm far more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics."

Lorraine Moller, Olympic Marathoner


"The long run puts the tiger in the cat."

Bill Squires, coach


"Out of the silver heat mirage he ran. The sky burned, and under him the paving was a black mirror reflecting sun-fire. Sweat sprayed his skin with each foot strike so that he ran in a hot mist of his own creation. With each slap on the softened asphalt, his soles absorbed heat that rose through his arches and ankles and the stems of his shins. It was a carnival of pain, but he loved each stride because running distilled him to his essence and the heat hastened this distillation."

James Tabor, from "The Runner," a short story


"The long run puts the tiger in the cat."

Bill Squires, coach


"Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity."

Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson


"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don't worry you will get over it."

Gene Thibeault


"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving."

Maurice Greene (attributed to Roger Bannister shortly after running the first sub-4-minute mile)


"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