Apolo Ohno Quotes

I read Christopher McDougall's book 'Born to Run.' If running were a religion, this would be its bible. I actually scribbled my favorite passages on my arm to read during the race.

I am a marathon runner. I ran the New York City marathon and almost died. I tried to run, like, a two-minute mile early on in the race. I was crazy enough to think I could win. After seven miles I thought I would die, but I slowed down my pace and kept going.

If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.

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.

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.

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.

I am a distance runner, a marathoner... literally and figuratively.

I do a lot of marathons as training runs. If I'm somewhere and there's a marathon, I'll sign up and just go run it.

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

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

I can run a long distance very slowly and I do a half marathon every year.

Every marathon starts with that first mile. But somewhere around mile 16 or 18 - trust me on this - your feet are killing you, you're not sure you can breathe anymore, your mind is frazzled, your body wracked with pain, and all you want to do is stop.

At Penn State, I ran distance and cross country as a walk-on. I wound up running a lot of marathons, 30-plus. I was okay. I won one in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I think it was around 2:30. I could crank those out all day.

One of my first races came over 10km in 2002. I won that race and it felt great. I would say that is when I first fell in love with running.

I want to do marathons; I want to do an Ironman.

Endurance running was my passion, my ride. So here, I was in the driver's seat, running for two days straight pushing the mental and physical limits striving to be better, to go farther, to give more.

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

You already have everything you need to be a long-distance athlete. It's mindset, not miles, that separates those who do from those who dream.

My goal is to break three hours in a marathon.

A couple of years ago I ran in the LA Marathon.

It's through sheer will that I can sing.

In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.

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

What I think a lot of great marathon runners do is envision crossing that finish line. Visualization is critical. But for me, I set a lot of little goals along the way to get my mind off that overwhelming goal of 26.2 miles. I know I've got to get to 5, and 12, and 16, and then I celebrate those little victories along the way.

Humans are built for endurance, not speed. We're awful sprinters compared to every other animal. We try to run our races as if they were speed races, but they are not. They're endurance races. Even a marathon, the way it's run now, it's not an endurance contest.