Our top 50 running and workout motivational quotes

Here's a selection of the finest quotes made by inspirational people in the world of sport and running.

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

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

3. "Running is alone time that lets my brain unspool the tangles that build up over days" Rob Haneisen

4. “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

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

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

7. “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

8. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ”Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

9. “Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go.”— T.S. Elliot

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

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

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

13. “Life equals running and when we stop running maybe that’s how we’ll know life is finally finished.” – Patrick Ness

14. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

15. “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.” – Kristin Armstrong

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

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

18. “Run in the morning … before your brain figures out what your body is doing!” – Anonymous

19. “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

20. “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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27. “Don’t dream of winning, train for it!” — Mo Farah

28. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”— Eleanor Rossevelt

29. “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

30. “A runner must run with dreams in his heart.” – Emil Zatopek

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

32. “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

33. “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

34. “The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”— Juma Ikangaa

35. “Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.” —Julie Isphording

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

37. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes

38. “It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” – Emil Zatopek

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

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

41. “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

42. “It’s not so much that I began to run, but that I continued.” – Hal Higdon

43. “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 Kinse

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

45. “Don’t fear moving slowly forward…fear standing still.” – Kathleen Harris

Photo credit: @GregMcMillanPhotography

46. Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.” – Erin Gray

47. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” –Confucius

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

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

50. “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

Are you inspired to run? What are you favourite running and workout quotes?