26.2 Quotes about the Marathon
mar·a·thon
Dictionary result for marathon
/ˈmerəˌTHän/
noun
-
a long-distance running race, strictly one of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km).
More than 800 marathons are held each year throughout the world according to Wikipedia. The vast majority of competitors are recreational athletes. We asked one of SCR's seasoned marathoners, Doug Nichols to reflect upon his time spent running over a dozen marathons and he came up with a list of memorable marathon quotes that epitomize the vast array of feelings associated with the 26.2 mile race distance. Enjoy!
- "If the human body recognized agony and frustration, people would never run marathons, have babies, or play baseball." Carlton Fisk
- “A popular form of overpriced torture wherein participants wake up at ass-o-clock in the morning and stand in the freezing cold until it's time to run, at which point they miserably trot for a god-awful interval of time that could be better spent sleeping in and/or consuming large quantities of beer and cupcakes.” -- Matthew Inman
- "If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon." -- Kathrine Switzer
- "If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon." -- Emil Zatopek
- "You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." -- Frank Shorter
- "I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards." -- Alberto Salazar
- "No doubt a brain and some shoes are essential for marathon success, although if it comes down to a choice, pick the shoes. More people finish marathons with no brains than with no shoes." -- Don Kardong
- "The real competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit" -- George A. Sheehan
- "You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot." -- Don Kardong
- "If you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you're normal. If you don't feel bad at 26 miles, you're abnormal." -- Rob de Castella
- “The race always hurts. Expect it to hurt. You don’t train so it doesn’t hurt. You train so you can tolerate it.” -- Unknown
- “When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.” -- Haile Gebrselassie
- “Of all the races, there is no better stage for heroism than a marathon." -- George Sheehan
- “In the first half of the race, don’t be an idiot. In the second half, don’t be a wimp!” -- Scott Douglas
- "The key to running a good marathon is to not listen to anyone's advice the last week before the race. That's when people tend to do stupid things that disrupt all the input and training of the previous months." -- Don Kardong
- Why couldn't Pheidippides have died here?” -- Frank Shorter's comment to Kenny Moore at the 16-mile mark in one of Shorter's first marathons
- “Every marathon I ran, I knew I had a faster one in me” -- Dick Beardsley
- “Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating.” -- John Farrington
- "If people were possessed by reason, running marathons would never work. But we are not creatures of reason. We are creatures of passion." -- Noel Carroll
- "It can be said that the first half of the marathon is 20 miles long; the second half, 6.2 more." -- Hal Higdon
- "There is the truth about the marathon and very few of you have written the truth. Even if I explain to you, you'll never understand it, you're outside of it." -- Douglas Wakiihuri, speaking to reporters
- "The pride in finishing a marathon is much greater than all the pain endured during the marathon." -- Hal Higdon
- "To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind." -- Jerome Drayton
- "If you have the courage to fail, then you have the courage to succeed.” -- Shalane Flanagan
- "Falling apart in a 5K is painful, but it's just pain. Falling apart in a marathon, I believe you lose a year of your life. You complete the marathon feeling utterly defeated, knowing that it got the best of you, and you go home and ask your mom if she still loves you." -- Jacob Frey
- “The marathon will humble you. But the truth is, sometimes it will do more than humble you. Sometimes it will break your heart.” -- Bill Rodgers
And finally....
26.2 “F*$% yeah.” -- Shalane Flanagan nearing the finish line of the 2017 NYC Marathon
