Running Quotes By Women Athletes

Photo courtesy of Des Papworth

I don't think I would have been such a good runner if I hadn't enjoyed it.
Greta Waitz

I can't imagine living and not running.
Paula Radcliffe

The freedom of Cross Country is so primitive. It's woman vs. nature.
Lynn Jennings

Running made me feel like a bird let out of a cage, I loved it that much.
Priscilla Welch

Do the work. Do the analysis. But feel your run. Feel your race. Feel the joy that is running.
Kara Goucher

I see myself as an artist. Running is the way I express my talent. I wish I could paint or write music, but running is what I do and I feel great joy
from it.
Joan Nesbit

I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beautiful for myself and for others. That's why I'm here.
Uta Pippig

Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running.
Julie Isphording, Marathon winner

Across the board you can run up against 10 athletes where we're the same physically. They've done the same kind of training; they are in the same kind of shape. But the one that wins is the person who really believes they can win.
Benita Johnson

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 (running quote on the New York Marathon)

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.
Paula Radcliffe

Wisdom from Women Athletes.

Although these aren't all running quotes, we believe these inspirational sayings from a group of extraordinary women athletes will lift your spirits.

Love it.

Now I am not running to please sponsors or to be the No.1 U.S. runner. Now I look at each step I get to take as a gift. I run because I love to run. I want to be able to run until I am 90 years old.
Suzy Favor Hamilton (Olympian miler)

The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.
Peggy Fleming (skating)

The medals don't mean anything and the glory doesn't last. It's all about your happiness. The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing.
Jackie Joyner Kersee (track & field)

What I love about running is you can meditate while running. It’s a peaceful place. You pray and think of the children and what you’re doing, and you get through it. The time passes clearly. The first mile is the hardest.
Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd (Runs marathons to raise money and awareness about children orphaned by AIDS.)

Work at it.

It's hard work to make a four-minute program look effortless and elegant.
Katarina Witt (skating)

Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win.
Nadia Comaneci (gymnastics)

God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius.
Anna Pavlova (ballet)

Working hard becomes a habit, a serous kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.
Mary Lou Retton (gymnastics)

Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don't think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made.
Patti Sue Plummer (running)

Just go out there and do what you've got to do.
Martina Navratilova (tennis)

Believe.

In a country where men are encouraged, one must be one's own inspiration.
Tegla Loroupe (Kenya, 1994 NYC Marathon Champ)

You can't become a winner overnight, or even in a couple of years-it takes time... You will lose races and you will have to accept that, learn from it and believe that you'll win the next one, knowing that you'll probably lose that as well. All the time you have to keep believing that one day you will win.
Paula Radcliffe (marathon running quote)

Some people say that I have an attitude - Maybe I do. But I think that you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there.
Venus Williams (tennis)

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It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse.
Ann Trason (ultra marathon runner)

The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy... It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.
Jacqueline Gareau (1980 Boston Marathon Champ)

Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like muscles of the body.
Lynn Jennings (running)

Competition.

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about.
Patti Sue Plummer (running)

When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.
Katarina Witt (skating)

The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters.
Patti Sue Plummer (running)

Whoever said, "It's not whether you win or lose that counts," probably lost.
Martina Navratilova (tennis)

I think exercise tests us in so many ways, our skills, our hearts, our ability to bounce back after setbacks. This is the inner beauty of sports and competition, and it can serve us all well as adult athletes.
Peggy Fleming (skating)

Dare Yourself.

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.
Billie Jean King (tennis)

I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath
your feet.
Nadia Comaneci (gymnastics)

Champions keep playing until they get it right.
Billie Jean King (tennis)

Other Thoughts.

I think the key is for women not to set any limits.
Martina Navratilova (tennis)

You have got to want to be the best before you can even begin to reach for that goal, and you have got to be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get there.
Billie Jean King (tennis)

Running Quotes about Women Runners..
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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.
Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand Coach

In addition to these running quotes, here are some inspirational quotes by women to spur you on or make you smile.

If you come across other running quotes or have your own words that you'd like to share send them to us.

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