Marathon Quotes & Sayings

Rereading parts of your novel while writing is like doubling back at rerunning parts of a marathon midrace. — Chris Baty

Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. — Robert McKee

The marathon is an opportunity for redemption. Opportunity, because the outcome is uncertain. Opportunity, because it is up to you, and only you, to make it happen. — Dean Karnazes

Life is a marathon, not a sprint. It's about taking a bigger-picture approach. — Ivanka Trump

If you're going to die, die interesting! Is there anything worse than a boring death? (Other than a Charlie Rose marathon on PBS?) I think not. When my time comes I'm going to go out in high style. I have no intention of being sick or lingering or dragging on and on and boring everyone I know. — Joan Rivers

I ran my first marathon in Florida in 1985. I had never run more than nine miles. — Kim Alexis

The main thing is to WRITE. Some days it might be 2000 words. Some days you might tinker with two sentences until you get them just right. Both days belong in the writing life. Some days you may watch a 'Doctor Who' marathon or become immersed in a book that is so good you can't stop reading. Some days you may be in love or in mourning. Those days belong in the writing life, too. Live them without guilt. — L.K. Madigan

It's always harder than you think to make a good film. Feature films are a hell of a marathon to say the least. It's kind of your endurance. How much can I push? How much do I care? How much time it takes is a nice reminder. — Shaul Schwarz

Guilt wears track shoes. Sprint, marathon, or cross-country, it doesn't matter. It runs tireless to catch you, and it carries a sledgehammer. — Jamie Mason

The tears that rushed to my eyes threatened to spill forth and I was seconds from crying as if I'd watched a marathon of Hallmark movies. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

You breathe nonstop, like a marathon runner, but it doesn't help. — Junot Diaz

I was thinking back to all the time in the gym, working hard, and that spurred me on [winning New York marathon just ten months after giving birth — Paula Radcliffe

Writing is like running a marathon. One needs stamina and perseverance. The right preparation and pacing get results. — K.J. Kilton

All mine for eternity. I fucking love that. He kissed her a little longer, and the marathon was on. — Elizabeth Reyes

We eat and sleep and shuffle through the fog, walking a marathon with no finish line, no medals, no cheering. — Isaac Marion

If I run I lose so much weight, which I need because you're limited on weight when you are a tall driver. And have you seen marathon runners? They're quite skinny. — Jenson Button

Each of us has our definition of adventure: ending an unsatisfying
relationship, returning to school, parachute jumping or training for a
marathon. Go ahead. Get your thrill on. — Gina Greenlee

I was working for a chef a long time ago who told me to not skip steps or be in a hurry. Success in a kitchen is more like a marathon and less like a sprint. Rising up the ranks too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing. This advice was from a guy who was sorry he had done that and didn't want me to do the same. — Wylie Dufresne

It was Saturday evening and we were in the throes of a Veronica Mars marathon (season two DVD). I decided that when I left "Ms. Townsend, Ice Princess" behind, the New Sadie was going to be like Veronica Mars. She was plucky, cute as a button and she had a smart mouth. — Kristen Ashley

If you're running a 26-mile marathon, remember that every mile is run one step at a time. If you are writing a book, do it one page at a time. If you're trying to master a new language, try it one word at a time. There are 365 days in the average year. Divide any project by 365 and you'll find that no job is all that intimidating. — Charles R. Swindoll

When I go to the Boston Marathon now, I have wet shoulders - women fall into my arms crying. They're weeping for joy because running has changed their lives. They feel they can do anything. — Kathrine Switzer

Fiji, I'm betting you don't drink a lot," he said, trying to suppress a smile.
"I don't," she confessed. "How did you know?"
"Just a lucky guess."
"You think he'd like my phone number?"
"Feej, that guy is tough as nails, and he's not only been around the block, he's run a marathon. He could eat you for breakfast," Olivia said, half smiling.
"And wouldn't that be a great way to wake up?" Fiji said, with a broad wink. Manfred laughed; he couldn't help it. — Charlaine Harris

In Hebrews 12:2, 'the race set before us' is not a sprint but a marathon. We are promised popularity, ease, and fun if we will pursue the lifestyles presented to us by the world. We are promised easy credit, 250 channels, unlimited minutes, all you can eat, no-fault divorce, free wireless, confidential abortions, and safe sex.
Those are the 'joys set before us' by the world, and most people trust these promises to deliver joy apart from God. But notice what is happening. The pursuit of the excellence of Jesus Christ is replaced by the pursuit of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is replaced with the ratings of what or who is most popular, and self-control is traded for self-indulgence. Consequently, there is no foundation for endurance. Even God's people quit jobs and marriages at the same rate as the world. More tragically, many of God's people quit trusting God. They have been stripped of Christian character. — Jim Berg

Boredom has a bad rap. Its true character reveals you are deep inside your comfort zone. Boredom is a docent beckoning toward the edges of a labyrinth. — Gina Greenlee

I also feel it usually takes four or five races to hit your best marathon for your body to be accustomed to the training AND the race itself. — Bill Rodgers

Marathon Day in Boston and all of Massachusetts, it's Patriot's Day, and it's a big celebration for us. It's a day when we're kind of the whole world's city there. — Elizabeth Warren

A couple of years ago I ran in the LA Marathon. — Joan Van Ark

I want to encourage people to make healthy life choices, whether it's training for a half-marathon, or eating more vegetables. — Kina Grannis

This was truly to be a radical milestone: the world's first-ever marathon nude psychotherapy session for criminal psychopaths. Elliott's raw, naked, LSD-fueled sessions lasted for epic eleven day stretches. The psychopaths spent every waking moment journeying to their darkest corners in an attempt to get better. There were no distractions - no television, no clothes, no clocks, no calendars, only a perpetual discussion (at least one hundred hours every week) of their feelings. When they got hungry, they sucked food through straws that protruded through the walls. As during Paul Bindrim's own nude psychotherapy sessions, the patients were encouraged to go to their rawest emotional places by screaming and clawing at the walls and confessing fantasies of forbidden sexual longing for one another ... — Jon Ronson

I think it's important to keep mantras fresh (sometimes the same verse can get stale). That being said, I love this powerful statement: 'Define yourself.' I rehearsed it a million times during the 2005 Chicago Marathon [her first win]. — Deena Kastor

I pulled a hamstring during the New York City Marathon. An hour into the race, I jumped off the couch ... — David Letterman

Perfecting your character isn't a marathon, a race, or a competition. It can only be won in stride with daily motivation. — Orly Wahba

This wasn't just an attack against the Boston Marathon ... It was an attack against the American public and our democratic use of the streets. We have used our public roadways for annual parades, protest marches, presidential inaugurations, marathons, and all manner of other events. The roads belong to us, and their use represents an important part of our free and democratic tradition. — Amby Burfoot

You plant a garden one flower at a time ... You write a book one word at a time, clean a closet one shelf at a time, run a marathon one step at a time. If you feel defeated by some large task, get your spade and dig the first hole. — Jeanne Marie Laskas

There is a unique energy surrounding the Boston Marathon that you can't help but feel. It includes every runner and every person along the course. It brings every person there together as one. — Amy Hastings

In the marathon of life negativity is never as light-footed as a dreamer's sprint. — Bryant McGill

Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have Nature, and that is much better. — Juha Vaatainen

Motivation remains key to the marathon: the motivation to begin; the motivation to continue; the motivation never to quit. — Hal Higdon

You're running out of tomorrows.
Running out of tomorrows, I repeated to myself in my room, sprawling across my bed to begin another midnight marathon of homework. Sometimes I felt as if there were no tomorrows, that everything, my whole life, was crammed into one long day. A continuous stretch of meaningless time. Sometimes I even wished there was no tomorrow, if this was all I had to look forward to. (Chapter.10) — Julie Anne Peters

Jordan ran the London marathon to help raise money for the blind. After jogging that far with her body, I'm surprised she hasn't joined them! — Frankie Boyle

I don't sleep at night at all. Making movies is a marathon. I'm a good 100-yard-dash guy. — Gary David Goldberg

Of all the races, there is no better stage for heroism than a marathon. — George A. Sheehan

Toeing the starting line of a marathon, regardless of the language you speak, the God you worship or the color of your skin, we all stand as equal. Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people ran. — Dean Karnazes

Work hard with passion and courage. Life is a marathon of contribution. You really must work hard to accomplish something ... Find your passion and get good at it. — Jeffrey R. Immelt

I do a lot of biking. I need that mileage and the long-distance stuff because tennis demands it. My fitness trainer is always trying to convince me to do an Ironman. I can probably run the marathon, I can make the 112 miles on the bike, but I will never swim for 2.4 miles. I will die after 100 meters. — Tomas Berdych

The marathon can humble you. — Bill Rodgers

Marathon running, like golf, is a game for players, not winners. That is why Callaway sells golf clubs and Nike sells running shoes. But running is unique in that the world's best racers are on the same course, at the same time, as amateurs, who have as much chance of winning as your average weekend warrior would scoring a touchdown in the NFL. — Hunter S. Thompson

Look at your ministry as a marathon not a sprint - build deep foundations of intimacy with God and never let your public schedule get fuller than your time alone with God. — Vicky Beeching

Great, thought Jack. I'm on marathon walk to London, likely to be ambushed by diseased nutters at any moment and I'm stuck with a load of idiots who sound like they've escaped from the set of In the Night Garden. — Charlie Higson

I gave birth to my first son in April 1986. I thought it would be a good goal to get back in shape after having a baby if I ran the New York City Marathon. I ran in it November 1986. I had just shot the 'Sports Illustrated' swimsuit issue, so I was in great shape. — Kim Alexis

Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it's valuable in a marathon. — Adam Grant

To cheer myself up, I try to remember the difference between short-term and long-term success. Living a good life and making a real mark on society is a marathon, not a sprint. — Tim Gunn

Out into the staff quarters. Over to the entrance to the movie theater. Tohr stopped dead. "If this is another Beaches marathon, I'm going to Bette your ass until you can't sit down."
"Aw, look at you! Trying to be finny."
"Seriously, if you have any compassion in you at all, you'll let me go to bed - "
"I have peanut M&M's up there."
"Not my style."
"Raisinets."
"Feh."
"Sam Adams."
Tohr narrowed his eyes. "Cold?"
"Downright icy."
Tohr crossed his arms over his chest and told himself he was not pouting like a five-year-old. "I want Milk Duds."
"Got 'em. And popcorn."
With a curse, Tohr yanked open the door and ascended into the dimly lit red cave. — J.R. Ward

A Marathon is not about running, it is about salvation. We spend so much of our lives doubting ourselves, thinking we're not good enough, not strong enough, not made of the right stuff. The Marathon is an opportunity for redemption. "Opportunity," because the outcome is uncertain. "Opportunity," because it is up to you, and only you, to make it happen; only you can turn your farfetched dream into a reality. — Dean Karnazes

Training is essential for almost any significant endeavor in life - running a marathon, becoming a surgeon, learning how to play the piano. — John Ortberg

[Lou]: "I'm not talking about the angioplasty. I mean the stuff you're pumping into me. What is it? Something serious?"
[Nurse]: "Oh. This is nothing. You're not going under the knife today, so you don't get the good shit. This is a blood-thinning agent. Also, it'll mellow you out. Got to keep the mellows going."
[Lou]: "It'll put me to sleep?"
[Nurse]: "Faster than a marathon of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. — Joe Hill

Nobody loves the Boston Marathon as much as the people who make fun of it year after year. This was the race that previously offered as a prize a not particularly expensive medal, a laurel wreath, and a bowl of beef stew. This was the race that, on one memorable occasion, nobody knew who actually won. — Charlie Pierce

Friedrich Nietzsche got pretty hung up on the notion of human will; really all he needed were some running shoes, Lycra and a place in the Berlin Marathon. — Phil Hewitt

Marathon training doesn't have to be a grind. By running for about 30 minutes two times a week, and by gradually increasing the length of a third weekly run-the long run-anyone can finish a marathon. — Jeff Galloway

Until we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy recommendation other than this: We need to redouble our efforts to make America stronger and healthier so it remains a vibrant counterexample to whatever bigoted ideology may have gripped these young men ... And the best place to start is with a carbon tax. — Thomas Friedman

In a marathon, if you run too fast, you get exhausted. If you run too slow, you never make it. — Uday Kotak

One of the great discoveries of marathon running for the masses is that you run against no one but yourself. — Phil Hewitt

The marathon is like a bullfight. — Alberto Salazar

That was the funny thing. What happened to John would pass for his classmates, but for John it was a long challenging road ahead of him. Who knew where he would be sent, maybe a juvenile detention center? He might keep in touch with a few friends if his parents let him, but he would never return to Wakefield High. His peers had no clue the journey ahead of him, that his life was changed forever.
And they had no idea what lay ahead for Lilly. No one knew she had been given a task by the Archangels to fight a war against pure evil. They had no idea that Lilly would spend most of her free time not training for a marathon, but training to kill demons. John and Lilly were not all too different. — Ellie Elisabeth

In my bright, utopian future world, they will hand out college educations like cups of water at the end of the L.A. Marathon. — Henry Rollins

But the sounds behind me tell me why. I risk a glance and see so many Zs on our asses that I wonder if they've been doing pilates all this time to get in shape for the great Whispering Pines mad-dash marathon. — Jake Bible

I like making comics and animation because it takes such a long time. I'm not a runner of the 100 meter. I like marathons. The longer it takes, the better I feel. — Marjane Satrapi

Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American. — David Sirota

You have cable?" He nodded toward her TV.
She tossed him the clicker. "Sure do. And if I remember, there's a Godzilla marathon on TBS tonight."
"Sweet," the vampire said, kicking his legs out. "I always root for the monster."
She smiled at him. "Me, too. — J.R. Ward

My goal is to break three hours in a marathon. — Frank Shorter

Running a marathon is something I've always wanted to do. — Jennie Finch

Making a movie is like a marathon, and commercials are like sprints - they're equally satisfying, but in different ways. — Tony Scott

Age shakes Athena's tower, but spares gray Marathon. — Lord Byron

Playing a three-hour Rush show is like running a marathon while solving equations. — Neil Peart

Boston is the cream of the crop of the marathon world. It has such history that you feel such honor just being a part of it. All the other races have pacers to get you to a Boston qualifying time. — Summer Sanders

Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best. — Michael Johnson

Just as you can't become a marathon runner by watching marathons on TV, likewise for science, you have to go through the thought processes of doing science and not just watch your instructor do it. — Eric Mazur

Training for a marathon is much like climbing a ladder. Each ring is a short-term goal that must be met in sequence in order to reach the long-term goal at the top of the ladder. — Richard Benyo

You've climbed too many mountains and crossed too many rivers to stop and turn back now. — Eleanor Brownn

It's about time! It's supposed to be a ritual, not a marathon. — Karen Chance

As a scientist, I play in the top league - the Olympics, the World Championships - and I want to be in the lead. As a runner, I set personal goals, and I want to push beyond my own personal limits. I was very happy when I practiced for several months and then reached my goal to run a marathon in 2:50. — Wolfgang Ketterle

In racing marathons, one does not see the dropouts make fun of those who continue; failed runners actually cheer on those who continue the race, wishing they were still in it. Not so with the marathon of discipleship in which some dropouts then make fun of the spiritual enterprise of which they were so recently a part! — Neal A. Maxwell

The most important thing is to understand that this career is not about speed. It's about stamina. This is a marathon. It's not a 50-meter sprint. You have to persevere and understand it takes a lot of time. You have to know you're going to knock on 100 doors and 99 of them are going to close in your face. — Jaime Camil

The journey to greatness is a marathon, not a hundred meter dash. — Matshona Dhliwayo

A daily creative project is like a marathon. It's a ridiculously daunting task, but making an original creation every day gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment. It also forces you to push beyond your mental and physical barriers (especially the ones you've erected for yourself). You'll be amazed at what you produce and what you learn about yourself in the process. — Noah Scalin

A novel takes the courage of a marathon runner, and as long as you have to run, you might as well be a winning marathon runner. Serendipity and blind faith faith in yourself won't hurt a thing. All the bastards in the world will snicker and sneer because they haven't the talent to zip up their flies by themselves. To hell with them, particularly the critics. Stand in there, son, no matter how badly you are battered and hurt. — Leon Uris

Fear is a very explosive emotion, but it has a short life span. It's the sprint. The marathon is hope. — Mike Huckabee

Pride and a Daily Marathon, — Oliver Sacks

All over Greece, strangers of a certain age will greet one another with the question, "And where were you and what did you do when Xerxes came to Marathon?" Then they exchange lies. — Gore Vidal

I couldn't be more excited to return to the ING New York City Marathon. — Ryan Hall

It's probably the toughest distance race in the world to win. World class runners from 1500m to the marathon contest it and instead of just three runners from each country, like in the Olympics or World Championships, in the senior men's race there are nine. — Paul Tergat

My husband and I both have our bucket lists. Running a marathon was on mine. — Alison Sweeney

A doable goal for me is to finish a marathon under four hours. I'm doing all the training, but the hardest part is eating right. — Sean Astin

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

Our favorite: a former garbage dump converted into a riverside park. I first ran there more than 30 years ago when a marathon passed through this park that later became home to Pre's Trail. — Joe Henderson

I'm just trying to spread the word and upturn the myth that actually you should be resting after cancer treatment. You shouldn't; you should be getting out and doing any kind of exercise you can. You don't have to run a marathon, but you just have to up your activity levels. — Jo Brand

I would sooner be prime minister of the moon than run another marathon. I've been really lucky. I didn't have any toenails fall off or anything disgusting like that. I still have all three nipples. — Ryan Reynolds

We are brunch hounds. We also like movie dates. There's a lot of diners, a lot of movies. We're 'simple pleasures' people. It doesn't have to be crazy. It could be a 'Law and Order' marathon on the couch, or it could be dinner or a show. We like to mix it up. — Rob McClure

Since my fried left me,I've got nothing to do but walking.I walk to forget.I walk,I escape,I get further.My friend will not come back,now I am a marathon man. — Shel Silverstein

Sometimes for me not throwing a tantrum is what running a marathon or swimming the English Channel must be like for others of a less-challenging emotional nature ... — Roseanne Barr