Wendelin Van Draanen Quotes

I'm a runner first before anything else.

I'm a runner. I like to run.

I am a lonely runner, but I am a long-distance runner.

Whenever I'm being invited to the New York City Marathon like today, I need to think twice because I know it's a very tough race.

There is something about the ritual of the race - putting on the number, lining up, being timed - that brings out the best in us.

There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.

Running has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a 'good runner' because I am me. I am a good 'me' because I am a runner.

Runners are the ultimate celebration people. Running is just so intense, you're really experiencing life to the fullest.

I am happy that I ran the half-marathon, but to me, just running and saying that I finished a race isn't enough for me. I want to run the race as best as I can. Working out for pants size isn't enough. I need a goal or a race to get back on the treadmill every day.

I train and I go home, and when I'm home, I think about training. That's my life every day, and that's it.

I can't imagine living and not running.

Swimming took up so much of my faculties, and for so long, I was willing to give it everything.

My brother was a big marathoner. He was a great collegiate runner at Beloit College. He won his conference's races, and he did tons of marathons. I would go out and run with him every once in a while just to hang out with him.

Tennis has to become everything to you if you're going to make it to the top. You have to live it.

My dad was a big runner. Growing up, I watched him do half marathons, and he was always running six or seven miles.

The only way I'll ever run a marathon is if I'm involved in the administration.

Time means a great deal to every runner. It means everything to me, because most days miles don't count; only minutes do.

I am much more wired to be an athlete than anything else. I understand the 'hard work = payoff' equation in sports. I run marathons and I box. And that's my Puerto Rican flag hanging in Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing gym. I gave it to him. My last N.Y.C. marathon time I ran in three hours flat.

I run year-round and then ramp up my training for a race a few months before.

I've always been a runner.

I can get obsessive with my training, but it makes you who you are.

I only think of my practice and running as fast as I can.

Football has been my life.

I'm going to finish my runs hard, and I'm going to try to set the tone.

I was born to be a runner. I simply love to run. It's almost like the faster I go, the easier it becomes.