I love the wind blowing through my hair, the different smells, the sun beating down on me, and the scenery. On my run this past Sunday, I was reminded of how great running feels when I was running along side the Rappahannock River. It was fantastic, smelling the freshly bloomed trees and bushes and watching the ripples of water just flowing down the river. Ahhhh!”
— Jennifer Homendy, Runner’s World Challenger
Running 100 miles helps you realize you can do anything. It’s a great analogy to life. It’s like, ‘OK, just keep going, one foot in front of the other.’”
— Liza Howard, 2011 U.S. 50-mile and 100-K national champion
A perfect run has nothing to do with distance. It’s when your stride feels comfortable. You’re on your toes trying to push it. Suddenly you realize you can open it up a bit more. You know you’re at one with yourself and the environment. You’re a little more alive than before you started.”
— Sean Astin, actor
You’re running on guts. On fumes. Your muscles twitch. You throw up. You’re delirious. But you keep running because there’s no way out of this hell you’re in, because there’s no way you’re not crossing the finish line. It’s a misery that non-runners don’t understand.”
— Martine Costello, author and runner
Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I must learn how to run fast.”
— Emil Zatopek
Perhaps the genius of ultrarunning is its supreme lack of utility. It makes
no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances
on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the
approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted
from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense.
The ultra runners know this instinctively. And they know something else that
is lost on the sedentary. They understand, perhaps better than anyone, that
the doors to the spirit will swing open with physical effort. In running
such long and taxing distances they answer a call from the deepest realms of
their being — a call that asks who they are …”
— David Blaikie
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Running is just you, the work you put in, and the clock. You can’t cheat yourself. If you don’t put in the miles, you can’t go to the starting line thinking you’re going to pull a miracle out of nowhere. You get out exactly as much as you put in.”
— Desiree Davila
There are no standards and no possible victories except the joy you are living while dancing your run. You are not running for some future reward-the real reward is now!”
— Fred Rohe, author of The Zen of Running
Remember, running is life, the rest is just details. Now go!”
— Dean Karnazes, Dean’s Blog, Runner’s World.com
Running is tough. It’s tough physically. It’s tough mentally. But once you’ve broken through the “perceived pain” barrier, you’ll find yourself in a new state of mind, body and soul. Your overall well-being will improve tremendously. You just have to experience it.”
— Keith Combs, Runner’s World Challenger of the Week
The perfect run is when you kind of get into the zone. Your body feels light; you feel good. Those days when the monkey’s off your back are just so great. You feel like you’re invincible.”
— Kit Hoover, Cohost, Access Hollywood Live
We ran seven miles one chilly, sunny morning this week and it felt so good to run, like having coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. I missed running while I rested and restored, but our time apart was good too.”
— Kristin Armstrong, author and runner
On every run, I discover the strength that I did not know I had. Some days it is my salvation!”
— Carrie Parker, technical analyst
People talk of a “flow state” of climbing, where they’re moving to a rhythm they’ve uncovered in the rock or snow. I find a similarity when running on a downgrade in the forest. There are rocks and slopes and curves. You’re dancing down as if you’re performing a ballet.”
— Aron Ralston, climber and author
