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.

Every runner is an experiment of one.

No matter how old I get, the race remains one of life's most rewarding experiences. My times become slower and slower, but the experience of the race is unchanged: each race a drama, each race a challenge, each race stretching me in one way or another, and each race telling me more about myself and others.

Success rests with having the courage and endurance and, above all, the will to become the person you are, however peculiar that may be. Then you will be able to say, I found my hero and he is me.

People begin running for any number of motives, but we stick to it for one basic reason-to find out who we really are.

To make your life a work of art, you must have the material to work with. The race, any race, is just such an experience.

The most important thing I learned [from running] is that there is only one runner in this race, and that is me.