Inspiring Running Quotes to Fuel Your Passion

"Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going!"

- Jillian Michaels

"Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up."

- Dean Karnazes

"All great achievements require time."

- Maya Angelou

"I feel like when I am running, it not only helps change me physically, it also improves my state of mind."

- Derek Hough

"If I continue to set goals and accomplish those goals, that means I’m doing something right."

- Kevin Hart

"Running is something you can do and be alone in your thoughts, and I like that."

- Carole Radziwill

"If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The only failure is not to try."

- George Clooney

"Be so good they can't ignore you."

- Steve Martin

"If the sun comes up, I have a chance."

- Venus Williams

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

- Michael Jordan

"Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles."

- Steve Jobs

"If you’ve never had a bad day running, you’re probably doing something wrong. If you’ve never had a good day running, you’re definitely doing something wrong."

- Mark Remy

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

- John Bingham

"It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up."

- Babe Ruth

"You don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running."

- Christopher McDougall

"If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you."

- Fred Devito

"I don’t run to add days to my life, I run to add life to my days."

- Ronald Rook

"Some seek the comfort of their therapist’s office, others head for the corner pub, but I chose running as my therapy."

- Dean Karnazes

"The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life."

- George Sheehan

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it."

- Oprah Winfrey

"The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race; it’s to test the limits of the human heart."

- Bill Bowerman

"You don’t have to be fast. But you’d better be fearless."

- Christopher McDougall

"There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner."

- Dean Karnazes

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far."

- John Bingham

"A runner must run with dreams in his heart."

- Emil Zatopek

"The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

- John Bingham

"That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is."

- Kara Goucher

"You didn’t get this far to only go this far."

- Ben Alldis

"Good things come slow—especially in distance running."

- Bill Dellinger

"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

"Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running."

- Julie Isphording

"Don’t dream of winning, train for it!"

- Mo Farah

"In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

- Fred Lebow

"Take control of your workout and make the decision to succeed."

- Matt Wilpers

"Whether a mile or a marathon, you get there the same way… one step at a time. Such is life."

- Baylor Barbee

"The benefits and opportunities of running are available to anyone. You don’t have to be born a natural athlete, and you don’t have to be uniquely gifted. A life-shaping experience is there for the taking, waiting right outside your door."

- Donald Buraglio and Michael Dove

"We are designed to run, and we increase our chance of daily happiness when we do so."

- Jeff Galloway

"It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."

- George Sheehan

"I run because it’s so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can’t. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought."

- Arthur Blank

"Don’t compare your chapter one with someone else’s chapter six."

- Ally Love

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Our running shoes have magic in them. The power to transform a bad day into a good day; frustration into speed; self-doubt into confidence; chocolate cake into muscle."

- Mina Samuels

"Fast running isn’t forced. You have to relax and let the run come out of you."

- Desiree Linden

"You can’t be upset at the results you didn’t get for the work you didn’t do."

- Jess Sims

"Never limit where running can take you. I mean that geographically, spiritually, and of course, physically."

- Bart Yasso

"What I've learned from running is that the time to push hard is when you're hurting like crazy and you want to give up. … Success is often just around the corner."

- James Dyson

"Every run is a work of art, a drawing on each day’s canvas. Some runs are shouts and some runs are whispers. Some runs are eulogies and others celebrations."

- Dagny Scott Barrios

"Train smart. Train hard. Have fun!"

- Matt Wilpers

"If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you."

- Fred DeVito

"We all have bad days and bad workouts, when running gets ugly, when split times seem slow, when you wonder why you started. It will pass."

- Hal Higdon

"You are truly your own hero in running. It is up to you to have the responsibility and self–discipline to get the job done."

- Adam Goucher

"I’ve learned that it’s what you do with the miles, rather than how many you’ve run."

- Rod DeHaven

"The pain you feel today will show itself as strength tomorrow."

- Tunde Oyeneyin

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body."

- Lynn Jennings

"It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination."

- John Bingham

"If your legs are tired, run with your heart!"

- Tobias Heinze

"Ask yourself: "Can I give more?". The answer is usually: "Yes"."

- Paul Tergat

"When people ask me why I run, I tell them, there's not really a reason, it's just the adrenalin when you start, and the feeling when you cross that finish line, and know that you are a winner no matter what place you got."

- Courtney Parsons

"I believe in the runner's high, and I believe that those who are passionate about running are the ones who experience it to the fullest degree possible. To me, the runner's high is a sensational reaction to a great run! It's an exhilarating feeling of satisfaction and achievement. It's like being on top of the world, and truthfully... there's nothing else quite like it!"

- Sasha Azevedo

"I always run without music. Being disconnected is what I'm addicted to more than anything. There aren't many places where you can be without your phone and computer. I've started to crave and enjoy that time alone."

- Christy Turlington

"Every marathon I ran, I knew I had a faster one in me."

- Dick Beardsley

"Running is the quickest endorphin hit I can get. I like to do it really early in the morning, before everyone gets up. It gives me a clear head and sort of resets the clock. It’s like, 'OK, I got that out of the way. Now I can deal with people.'"

- Julie Bowen

"There's a great empowerment that I get from running, not only from the endorphins. Being a runner, to me, has made being depressed impossible. If ever I'm going through something emotional and just go outside for a run, you can rest assured that I'll come back with clarity and empowerment."

- Alanis Morissette

"Exercise is like meditation for me. And I'm giving myself that time. I cannot live without it now. When you have such a good workout, it clears everything up mentally, physically, and you just have a better day."

- Minka Kelly

"I like what it does for my mind. If I've had a bad day, if I'm feeling stressed out, if I'm feeling overwhelmed — it takes it all away. It's my antidote for everything. If I feel any sort of emotional upheaval, I go for a jog and I feel better."

- Kelly Ripa

"Don't be afraid to fail. It's not the end of the world and in many ways, it's the first step toward learning something better and getting better at it."

- Jon Hamm

"Fast running isn't forced. You have to relax and let the run come out of you."

- Desiree Linden

"Running is my alone time. I have people around me all the time, all day. The only time I have alone is when I’m running, or when I’m at church. Running’s easier to fit in."

- Mario Lopez

"Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up."

- Dean Karnazes

"Nothing lifts me out of a bad mood better than a hard workout on my treadmill. It never fails. To us, exercise is nothing short of a miracle."

- Cher

"I am 100 percent convinced that working out is part of what makes me so happy."

- Jennifer Lopez

"Running is great for your body. It will increase your energy levels and helps you to clear your mind."

- Heidi Klum

"Just keep moving. Someone said this to me a long time ago. It's a Buddhist saying, I think: 'There is no wasted effort.'"

- Lauren Graham

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

"Running is not about being better than someone else. It's about being better than you used to be."

"The only bad run is the one that didn't happen."

"The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow."

"I run because somehow completely exhausting myself is the most relaxing part of my day."

"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch."

- Unknown

"The voice in your head that says you can’t do this is a liar."

"A marathon is like life with its ups and downs, but once you've done it you feel that you can do anything."

"Running is the answer. The question is irrelevant."

"Don’t ask me why I run. Ask yourself why you don’t."

"One run can change your day, many runs can change your life."

"Run fast, run slow, run far, run close—just run."

"Running reminds you that even in your weakest moments, you are strong."

"Running teaches us to keep moving forward, one step at a time, especially in the most painful moments."