Bill Bowerman Quotes & Sayings

There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people. — Bill Bowerman

I think people can handle 150 to 200 miles a week. But something has to give somewhere. If he's a student, how's he going to study? He may be at the age of chasing and courtship, and that's an important form of sport and recreation, too. — Bill Bowerman

God determines how fast you're going to run; I can help only with the mechanics. — Bill Bowerman

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. — Bill Bowerman

There is no bad weather, just soft runners. — Bill Bowerman

A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils. But while runners differ, basic principles never change. So it's a matter of fitting your current practices to fit the event and the individual. See, what's good for you might not be worth a darn for the next guy. — Bill Bowerman

The idea that the harder you work, the better you're going to be is just garbage. The greatest improvement is made by the man or woman who works most intelligently. — Bill Bowerman

Now to explore the limits of the one competitor above everyone else you've always loved to face: Steve Prefontaine. — Bill Bowerman

Several of my critics have said, 'Bowerman just tacks up a piece of paper in the locker room and turns his runners loose.' They're partially right. I do give the athletes a relatively free rein and for good reason. One of my principles is? 'Don't overcoach.' — Bill Bowerman

Don't give anything away. Never make it easy for the guys you are trying to beat. — Bill Bowerman

I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential. — Bill Bowerman

If at the end of a race you know yourself that you have done your best, you're a winner. — Bill Bowerman

If you have a body, you are an athlete! — Bill Bowerman

Men of Oregon, I invite you to become students of your events. Running, one might say, is basically an absurd past-time upon which to be exhausting ourselves. But if you can find meaning, in the kind of running you have to do to stay on this team, chances are you will be able to find meaning in another absurd past-time: life. — Bill Bowerman

The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles. — Bill Bowerman

The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits of the human heart. — Bill Bowerman

The athlete makes himself, the coach doesn't make the athlete. — Bill Bowerman

Everything you need is already inside. — Bill Bowerman

Victory is in having done your best. If you've done your best, you've won. — Bill Bowerman