"Most people race to see who is the fastest, I race to see who has the most guts."

Steve Prefontaine

What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?

Steve Prefontaine

"The only good race pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die."

Steve Prefontaine

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.

Steve Prefontaine

It really gets grim until the competition begins. You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisf

Steve Prefontaine

No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.

Steve Prefontaine

A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

Steve Prefontaine

No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody.

Steve Prefontaine

When people go to a track meet, they're looking for something, a world record, something that hasn't been done before. You get all this magnetic energy, people focusing on one thing at the same time. I really get excited about it. It makes me want to comp

Steve Prefontaine

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Steve Prefontaine

I'll tell you one thing. I love every one of them. I've thought about the Olympic Games every day of my life since 1968, but there is a breaking point in each race when you wonder if all the sacrifice is really worth it. You think 'why should I do thi

Steve Prefontaine