Steve Prefontaine

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

“Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run.”

“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.”

“I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”

“Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.”

“The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.”

“Don't be the best runner in the world. Be the best runner you can be.”

“How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg shorter than the other, beat everybody in the world? By believing in himself.”

“The real purpose of running isn't to win a race. It's to test the limits of human potential and to see what the human body and spirit can achieve.”

“Track is where you test the absolute limits of your speed and will.”

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

“Running on the track is about speed and precision. Running on the road is about survival.”

“You can't make footprints in the sand if you're sitting on the beach.”