"Phidippides died after 26 miles. But he ran 140 miles twice just days before. Overtraining got him, not the marathon."
-- Kevin Strehlo
"If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
-- Emil Zatopek
"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second."
-- William James
"Run soft, run strong, run balanced, run fast, run less and run repaired."
-- Roy Wallack
"Ah just felt like runnin."
-- Forrest Gump
"Life is short... running makes it seem longer."
-- Baron Hansen
"Getting out of shape is much easier than getting into shape."
-- Joe Kelly
"The nearest McDonald's to our home was almost 26 miles away, so I was keenly aware of the distance."
-- Joe Donavan on training for a marathon
"The difference between the mile and the marathon is the difference between burning your fingers with a match and being slowly roasted over hot coals."
-- Hal Higdon
"Sprinting is sex, distance is love" -- Anon [and sprinting at the end of a distance race is the best!]
“The marathon can humble you.”
-- Bill Rodger
"80 percent of success is just showing up."
-- Woody Allen
“I loved the freedom of running, the fresh air and feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me”
-- Wilma Rudolph
"A brain and some shoes are essential for marathon success, but if it comes down to a choice, pick the shoes. More people finish marathons with no brains than with no shoes."
-- Don Kardong
"If he raced his pregnant wife he'd finish third."
-- Tommy Lasorda
"Hills are speedwork in disguise."
-- Frank Shorter
"Never throw away the instructions to your running watch."
-- Joe Kelly
"I pulled a hamstring during the New York City Marathon. An hour into the race, I jumped off the couch..."
-- David Letterman
"Do. Or don't do. There is no 'try'"
-- Master Yoda
"The longer the race, the shorter the champ."
-- Manciata
"What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?"
-- 13-year-old Steve Prefontaine, before becoming a runner.
"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts."
-- Steve Prefontaine
"My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy."
--John Bryant
"I'm never going to run this again."
-- Grete Waitz after winning her first of nine New York City marathons
"Long slow distance makes long slow runners."
-- Jim Bush
"No pain, no gain."
-- Athletic proverb
"It helps me sleep at night."
-- President George W. Bush on running
"Do you think I'd be stupid enough to go running with someone I was foolin' with?" -- Bill Clinton
"Do you want me to answer that?" -- Monica Lewinsky
"I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street."
-- Neil Armstrong
---- on running backwards ----
"Hey dude, let's run the normal way now." Tommy Lee to Mick Jagger.
"No bloody way, backwards makes for a better workout."Mick Jagger to Tommy Lee.
-----------------------------------
"I love running cross country. On a track, I feel like a hamster."
-- Robin Williams
"Veronica and I are trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. It might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild."
-- Ron Burgundy in Anchorman
"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse."
-- Ann Trason
"You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit."
-- Lance Armstrong's line in Dodgeball
"Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don't think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made."
-- Patti Sue Plumer
"You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot."
-- Don Kardong
"We bust ours, to kick yours."
-- High school team motto
“The Lord works in strange ways. Take Phil Pinchuck. The man keeled over with an aneurysm, he’s now a hamster. All day, running at the stupid wheel. For years he was a Yale professor. My point is he’s gotten to like the wheel. He pedals and pedals, running nowhere, but he smiles.”
-- Moe Silvermann, Woody Allen character.
"Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." -- George Sheehan
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot.
"Few people realize what an accomplished ultra-runner Eliot was. Of course, he used a pseudonym (J Alfred Phidippedes)."
-- Chris Twiggs"
"Hitting the wall will, over time, and with decent punches, strengthen your knuckles. "
--Jay Coe, Contender
"I live a healthy lifestyle and feel great. I can run a marathon, you know."
-- Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy, Vampire Slayer)
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired."
-- Jules Renard
"Running in place on a Wii Fit is more biomechanically similar to running than, er, not running."
-- Marathoning Matters