They have a word in Finnish called sisu, which basically means guts. It’s the strongest word in the Finnish language. You tell a Finn he doesn’t have sisu, that’s like spitting in his face.

The idea that you can't lose contact with the leaders has cut more throats than it has saved.

They're very tenacious. They're dedicated. Once a woman decides she's going to do something, she'll probably stick to it. The only problem with women is if there's anything wrong with them, they won't tell you. They'll get out there and run on one leg. They don't moan and groan like a lot of men do.

It's just a matter of understanding what's necessary and discipline yourself to do it.

I get more gratification out of getting some obese person who had a heart attack running around and enjoying life within a year. I get more gratification from that than putting a person in the Olympic Games. The Olympic athlete probably doesn't appreciate what you've done, but the other guy does. I think it's really rewarding.

You must realize one thing. In every little village in the world there are great potential champions who only need motivation, development and good exercise evaluation.

I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way.