Running Quotes

As in any other sport or occupation, runners do provide adages, small sound bites or running quotes. There are examples of funny running quotes, inspirational running quotes and motivational running quotes. Running quotes, like other types of quotes provide the readers with a variable smorgasbord of sensations and possibilities. There are quotes given directly to the press before and after a race. There are quotations lifted from a runner’s biography or from a documentary or television interview. Some quotes are from the winners, some are from the losers and others are from those who found the inspiration to race in an event.

Jesse Owens, the winner of three gold medals at the notorious Berlin “Hitler” Olympics, is a man whose words, particularly to blacks, provides many inspirational quotes for runners. He once said:

“To a sprinter, the hundred-yard dash is over in three seconds, not nine or ten. The first 'second' is when you come out of the blocks. The next is when you look up and take your first few strides to attain gain position. By that time the race is actually about half over. The final 'second' -- the longest slice of time in the world for an athlete -- is that last half of the race, when you really bear down and see what you're made of. It seems to take an eternity, yet is all over before you can think what's happening."

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Jesse Owens is not the only one who, through his example, provides runners with inspirational quotes for running, although he does offer some of the best running quotes. Michael Johnson once said: "Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity." Jesse Owens would back Johnson up saying: “It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when its close.”

Quotes about running and quotes for runners can help a runner improve his or her performance. It is beneficial to know even the greats have felt the pressure on the track and know fear. Patti Sue Plummer said: "The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters."

As for cool running quotes –try recalling this among others of this track champion’s running quotes: “You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.” Yet, for some, humor is better at conveying a message. Kip Lagat of Kenya, when asked by reporters at the Olympics why runners from his country and other parts of Africa were doing so well told them: “It’s the road signs. ‘Beware of lions.’” This has to be high on the funny quotes for track runners list.

Yet, perhaps, Jesse Owens still provides some of the greatest running quotes. He once said: “Friendships are born on the field of athletic strife and the real gold of the competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”