"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle,
when the sun comes up, you’d better be running."
— Anon.
"You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
— Eleanor Roosevelt
"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
"Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks."
— Sir Roger Bannister
"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves…The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable."
— Sir Roger Bannister
"Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of a runner. He learns the harsh reality of his physical and spiritual limitations when he runs. He learns that personal commitment, sacrifice and determination are his only means to betterment. Runners get promoted only through self-conquest."
— Noel Coward
"No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed."
— Roger Bannister on breaking the 4-minute mile.
"It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
— Confucius
