What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?

A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I loose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself. — Steve Prefontaine

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder. — William Sigei

The footing was really atrocious. I loved it. I really like Cross Country; you’re one with the mud. — Lynn Jennings

To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who’s never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind. — Jerome Drayton

Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead. — Roger Bannister (After becoming the first person to break the four-minute mile, 1952)

My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win… channel your energy. Focus. — Carl Lewis