Some days, lacing up our shoes and heading out on a run can feel like one insurmountable challenge. Thankfully, there’s a surefire way to get motivated for your next run: some fantastic running quotes!

Here are 75 of our favorite quotes about running, so you can get up off the couch and hit the pavement, trail, track, treadmill, or wherever you like to run.

Inspirational Running Quotes

1. “Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.” – Michael Johnson

2. “The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare.” – Juma Ikangaa

3. “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

4. “I cannot have survival as my only goal. That would be too boring. My goal is to come back in my best running form. It is good for me to have that goal; it will help me.” – Ludmila Engquist (Olympic champion hurdler battling cancer)

5. “The human spirit is indomitable. No one can ever say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. There will never be a time when the human spirit will not be able to better existing records.” – Sir Roger Bannister

6. “I’ve learned that it’s what you do with the miles, rather than how many you’ve run.” – Rod DeHaven

7. “There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.” – Kristen Armstrong

8. “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” – Jesse Owens

9. “The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” – Robert Frost

Motivational Running Quotes

10. “Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.” – Jules Renard

11. “There are clubs you can’t belong to, neighborhoods you can’t live in, schools you can’t get into, but the roads are always open.” – Nike advertising campaign

12. “When it’s pouring rain and you’re bowling along through the wet, there’s satisfaction in knowing you’re out there and the others aren’t.” – Peter Snell

13. “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” – John Bingham

14. “Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.” – Lynn Jennings

15. “Don’t dream of winning, train for it!” – Sir Mo Farah

16. “Ask yourself: “Can I give more?” The answer is usually: ‘Yes.'” – Paul Tergat

17. “Someone who is busier than you is running right now.” – Nike

18. “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

19. “Long distance running is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.” – Rich Davis

20. “Some people train knowing they’re not working as hard as other people. I can’t fathom how they think.” – Alberto Salazar

21. “Running is alone time that lets my brain unspool the tangles that build up over days…I run, pound it out on the pavement, channel that energy into my legs, and when I’m done with my run, I’m done with it.” – Rob Haneisen

22. “Fast running isn’t forced. You have to relax and let the run come out of you.” – Desiree Linden

23. “Running became the one event in my daily life that I looked forward to. Books and movies paled in comparison to the refuge of my feet slapping patiently in the fresh morning air.” – Kate Kinsey

24. “There’s not one body type that equates to success. Accept the body you have and be the best you can be with it.” – Mary Cullen

Funny Running Quotes

25. “It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse.” – Ann Trason

26. “If you start to feel good during an ultra, don’t worry, you will get over it.” – Gene Thibeault

27. “We can’t all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.” – Will Rogers

28. “There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.” – Dean Karnazes

29. “As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can’t pick the days they come on.” – Deena Kastor

30. “If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.” – Christopher McDougall

31. “Good things come slow, especially in distance running.” – Bill Dellinger

32. “You would run much slower if you were dragging something behind you, like a knapsack or a sheriff.” – Lemony Snicket

33. “We run when we’re scared, we run when we’re ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.” – Christopher McDougall

34. “Run like hell and get the agony over with.” – Clarence DeMar

35. “I often hear someone say I’m not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner.” – Bart Yasso

Short Running Quotes

36. “The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.” – George Sheehan

37. “We all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it.” – Deena Kastor

38. “Get going … walk if you have to, but finish the damned race.” – Ron Hill

39. “After all, if you run far enough, no one can catch you.” – V.E. Schwab

40. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” – Fred DeVito

41. “Running is real and relatively simple… but it ain’t easy.” – Mark Will-Weber

42. “Running is my private time, my therapy, my religion.” – Gail W. Kislevitz

43. “Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.” – Julie Isphording

Cross Country Running Quotes

44. “The start of a World Cross Country event is like riding a horse in the middle of a buffalo stampede. It’s a thrill if you keep up, but one slip and you’re nothing but hoof prints.” – Ed Eyestone

45. “The freedom of Cross Country is so primitive. It’s woman vs. nature.” – Lynn Jennings

46. “Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.” – Juha Väätäinen

Marathon Running Quotes

47. “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

48. “We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.” – Emil Zatopek

49. “Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating.” – John Farrington

50. “There is the truth about the marathon and very few of you have written the truth. Even if I explain to you, you’ll never understand it, you’re outside of it.” – Douglas Wakiihri

51. “You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.” – Frank Shorter

52. “I breathe in strength and breathe out weakness,’ is my mantra during marathons—it calms me down and helps me focus.” – Amy Hastings

53. “If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.” – Kathrine Switzer

54. “The marathon can humble you.” – Bill Rodgers

Race Running Quotes

55. “The gun goes off and everything changes… the world changes… and nothing else really matters.” – Pattie Sue Plummer

56. “Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts” – Steve Prefontaine

57. “No negative thoughts cross my mind on race day. When I look into their eyes, I know I’m going to beat them.” – Danny Harris

58. “In any race, when the first half is all about pacing, the second half will be about passing.” – Hayden Shearman (TempoFit Head Coach)

59. “Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually pain passes and the flow returns. It’s part of racing.” – Frank Shorter

60. “The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other… but to be with each other.” – Christopher McDougall

Running Life Quotes

61. “It’s my own space, my own time, when I’m just out there letting my thoughts go. It’s part of my day like eating, and it’s one of my favorite parts.” – Louise Kent

62. “Running allows me to set my mind free. Nothing seems impossible. Nothing unattainable.” – Kara Goucher

63. “I don’t run to add days to my life, I run to add life to my days.” – Ronald Rook

64. “I’ll be happy if running and I can grow old together.” – Haruki Murakami

65. “The pain of running relieves the pain of living.” – Jacqueline Simon Gunn

66. “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” – John Bingham

67. “I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go.” – Dean Karnazes

68. “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” – Oprah Winfrey

69. “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

70. “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

71. “I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way. Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.” – Dean Karnazes

72. “Never underestimate the power that one good workout can have on your mind. Keeping the dream alive is half the battle.” – Kara Goucher

73. “Running is about finding your inner peace, and so is a life well lived.” – Dean Karnazes

74. “As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are.” – Joan Benoit Samuelson

75. “The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.” – George Sheehan