September 1978:

The thing that counts is not what we could do but what we actually do.

January 1979:

We should run not like an athlete at work but like a child at play.

March 1979:

The will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare.

May 1979:

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.

July 1979:

It's hot out - drink a lot of water!

August 1979:

Be content with what natural ability you have but not with how well you are racing.

October 1979:

The runner without a goal is like a ship without a rudder - a waif, a nothing, a no-runner.

December 1979:

Good running - "Hard goals take time. Impossible goals a fraction longer." Barrie Almond.

February 1980:

from Run with George Brown ["Run with George" was a weekly column in The Hartford Courant written by George S. Brown. This quote is from the Jan. 6, 1980 column.] "Running seems to pull life together for many Americans today. They sense, in the activity, physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and social benefit. Their running contributes to a deeper knowledge of self, and enhanced self esteem."

April 1980:

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

June 1980:

Only a mediocre runner is always at his best.

August 1980:

We are all only as good as our most recent effort.

October 1980:

It's not how far you run, but how you run that counts.

February 1981:

"The sweaty players in the game of life have more fun than the supercilious spectators."

April 1981:

Charlie Robbins says run and be healthy - Vin Fandetti says run while you can - you never know when injury will knock you out - I say run easy, make a lifetime of running your marathon of running.

June 1981:

The world won't recognize your ability until you demonstrate it.

August 1981:

The best marathon of all is the run that lasts a lifetime.

November 1981:

The good loser is far more common than the good winner.

December 1981:

Happiness is waking in the morning and feeling no new aches or pains. Remember, we're all here only a very short time so don't forget to smell the flowers along the way.

October 1984,
December 1990:

"Don't waste sympathy on your sickly rivals; starting guns have produced more miraculous cures than Our Lady of Lourdes."

January 1990,
October 1995:

"It's alright to aim high if you have plenty of ammunition."

June 1990:

How to tell you're getting older - everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work!

October 1990:

George Sheehan says "The best way to play the aging game is to concede nothing - should your body suggest it is too old for this effort say 'Nonsense.' Should your mind decide it is too late to learn new tricks say 'Balderdash.' Should your soul say it needs a respite from duty and obligation say 'Rubbish.'"

May 1992:

"You don't stop running because you get old but you could get old if you stop running."

December 1994:

"Train hard, race hard - Wear out don't rust."

February 1995:

As my wife always says to me before the start of the race "Have fun and hurry back!"

March 1995:

Noticed a t-shirt on an old guy at the race last week that said "Top 10 before Top Soil." That's my idea exactly.

April 1995:

Don't forget the Senior Athletic Games motto - "You don't stop playing because you get old - you grow old because you stop playing."

May 1995:

Runner's Prayer: Lord help me to remember that the race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.

June 1995,
November 1997,
February 2005:

"The only difference between a jogger and runner is an entry blank." George Sheehan.

July 1995:

Always remember Mary Haines' motto: "As long as you finish the race you are a winner."

August 1995:

Always remember "Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue."

September 1995:

Eat right, live clean, run hard and die healthy.

December 1995:

"The goal is to die young as late as possible."

January 1996:

The secret of staying young is to run a lot, eat slowly and lie about your age.

February 1996:

"It's really a lack of exercise - not aging - which makes fitness deteriorate appreciably as we get older."

March 1996:

"Research has shown that people over 65 should keep exercising after retirement. In fact, they have more to gain from exercise than younger people. It's fascinating to know one can grow healthier as one grows older and not the reverse."

April 1996:

It's better to be over the hill than under the hill.

May 1996:

Seen on the back of a T-shirt - "The older I get the faster I was."

June 1996:

I asked Gil Demarest how he felt running in the Simsbury River Run 10K. He said, "Lousy - the first two miles I thought I was going to die and the last couple of miles I wished I had."

July 1996:

Life is too short to do everything necessary to live longer - just run and enjoy it.

August 1996:

"I'm still running because I enjoy it. I don't run for health - I'm healthy because I run."

October 1996:

Mike Cohen, Simsbury cross-country coach, says, "I don't turn anyone away that comes out for the team - we like to say there's a place and a pace for everyone." Hey, how about that for the Hartford Track Club motto - "There's a place and a pace for everyone" - seems to me that's exactly what the club should be about.

November 1996:

"Let he who has never made a mistake, cast the first stone."

December 1996:

Fred Brown got a two-page letter from a guy asking him how he should train for a marathon - Fred Scribbled "a lot" on the letter and sent it back.

January 1997:

"If you stop competing because you think you are too old, you soon will be."

April 1997,
June 2001:

Running may not add years to your life, but it sure adds life to your years.

May 1997:

Running long distances, more than being a love of labor, must be a labor of love.

June 1997:

"Feel young and you stay young."

July 1997:

Always remember, if you do your best, you can never lose.

August 1997:

Running is simple: "Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You won't run into too much trouble as long as you remember to alternate feet."

September 1997:

"The older I get, the faster I was."

October 1997:

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' while you're looking for a rock to heave at him."

January 1998,
July 2006:

Always remember, "Age is just a question of mind over matter - if you don't mind, it doesn't matter." How true.

February 1998:

"Never worry about a road runner who wears his number on his back."

April 1998:

"The danger is we might go through life without ever living."

May 1998:

"May God give you the strength, desire and competitive spirit to succeed."

June 1998:

"Most people say when you get old you have to give things up. I say you get old because you give things up."

July 1998:

"Since exercise is much safer than inactivity in terms of health and well-being, rather than seeking a doctor's permission to exercise you should have to get his permission to be sedentary."

August 1998,
July 1999:

If only the good die young then what does that say about veteran runners?

September 1998:

"Motion is the best lotion."

November 1998:

"Growing old is a habit no runner should develop."

December 1998:

"Eat more, run less, weigh more. Eat less, run more, weigh more." [That last "more" must have been a typo for "less."]

January 1999:

You are old when memories of former races take the place of dreams of future ones.

May 1999:

You can't lose weight by talking about it - you have to keep your mouth shut.

June 1999:

Right now I'm battling a conundrum - I'm too tired to run because I weigh too much, and I weigh too much because I'm too tired to run.

August 1999:

If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is probably not for you.

September 1999:

The law of probability dispersal decrees that whatever it is that hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.

October 1999:

"Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair."

November 1999:

"Don't be afraid of going slow; be afraid only of standing still."

December 1999:

"Difficult things take time, the impossible take a little longer." Percy Cerutty

February 2000:

"Physical activity may not be a fountain of youth, but it's the closest thing we have."

March 2000:

"If things get better with age, I must be approaching magnificence."

April 2000:

"Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open."

May 2000:

"Every day above ground is a good day."

June 2000:

"If you meet someone halfway you have made a worthwhile trip."

July 2000:

"All we need is good friends, good food and good workouts."

August 2000:

"The trouble with the future is that it's getting here faster than it used to."

September 2000:

"Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven't committed."

October 2000:

"A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory."

November 2000:

"One day as a tiger is better than a thousand as a sheep."

December 2000:

"As you age, there is a fine line between getting warmed up and getting worn out."

January 2001:

"It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others."

March 2001:

"On a personal level runners have to make peace in our own way with age and time while still being runners."

July 2001:

It isn't what you once did that really counts, but what you keep doing.

August 2001:

Definition of a real runner - someone who can say fartlek without smiling.

October 2001:

"The only thing harder than running is not running."

November 2001:

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

December 2001:

"Life is the one race you win for finishing last."

January 2002:

"It is the person who slows down last who wins."

February 2002:

As George Sheehan used to say, each of us in an experiment of one and at this point in my career, I regard myself as a very interesting "experiment of one."

March 2002:

"Live strenuously and taste life rather than just endure its passing."

April 2002:

Running gives the body energy and helps one grow older without "getting old."

May 2002:

"Victory isn't defined by wins or losses, it is defined by effort. If you can truthfully say, 'I did the best I could, I gave it everything I had,' than you're a winner."

June 2002,
September 2005:

If you want to age rapidly, don't exercise.

July 2002:

"When you are healthy, you don't get old."

August 2002,
September 2007:

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper - the closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes."

September 2002:

Each day only comes once. Enjoy it while you can.

October 2002:

The word "vegetarian" comes from an old Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

November 2002:

You know you're a runner when you think "cloudy and high 40s" is perfect weather.

December 2002:

[About Parker Holt] He fought the good fight, he finished the course and has now moved on to receive his award.

June 2003:

There is nothing better for training for a race than racing.

July 2003:

"I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps."

August 2003:

"I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe, secure place somewhere."

September 2003:

When the race gets tough, the tough start kicking!

October 2003:

When you come to a fork in the road - pick it up!

November 2003:

When you come to a fork in the road - take it.

December 2003:

For those of us who run, no explanation as to why we run is necessary; for those who do not run, no explanation is possible!

January 2004:

"The great tragedy of life is not attempting too high a mark and missing, but attempting one too low and succeeding."

April 2004:

"First you lose your flexibility, then your legs go, and then your friends go!" - Willie Pep

May 2004:

You don't have to be great to start - but you have to start to be great.

June 2004:

At age 80 and over if you arrive at the starting line alive you've got a damn good chance of winning your division.

July 2004:

These aren't the golden years; they're the metallic years. There's silver in my hair, gold in my teeth, and lead in my legs.

August 2004:

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

September 2004:

It's crossing the finish line that counts.

October 2004:

Never, never ever lock a toilet door while using a john before a race!

November 2004:

Running is the only real sport; everything else is just a game.

December 2004:

If only the good die young, then what does that say about us senior citizens?

January 2005:

When you win you eat better, sleep better and the beer tastes better.

March 2005:

"Once you have decided that winning isn't everything, you become a winner."

April 2005:

"I just heard of a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he committed suicide!"

May 2005:

Inside every older runner is a younger runner wondering, "What the hell happened?"

June 2005:

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."

July 2005:

If you believe - you will achieve.

August 2005:

"Racing is the lovemaking of the runner. It's hard to pass up. A runner usually has few friends, and they are always other runners. The place to meet is at the races." George Sheehan

October 2005:

"No matter how many miles I run, no matter how fast I run, and no matter how often I run, there will always be someone faster and stronger than me. But that's O.K. I'm not running for anybody but me."

December 2005:

You can recover from pain. You can't recover from quitting.

January 2006:

It's not the hours you put in your training, it's the training you put in your hours.

June 2006:

"Running can make you feel ten years younger the day of the race and ten years older the day after the race."

August 2006:

"We don't stop running because we get old. We get old because we stop running."

October 2006:

"Age isn't important unless you're cheese!"

December 2006:

Do not regret growing old because many are denied the privilege.

January 2007,
June 2007:

"Old age is a disease of inactivity."

March 2007:

"You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream."

April 2007:

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."

May 2007:

"As you slide down the banister of life may the splinters never point the wrong way."

July 2007:

Running may not give me an extra day of life. It will, however, give me extra life with every day.

August 2007:

If you rest, you rust.

October 2007:

"I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens."

November 2007:

"In the end it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years."

December 2007:

The greatest runners in the world are antelopes but for some reason you never see them in a road race.

January 2008:

Seen on the back of a t-shirt worn by a fellow 80-year-old runner - "No I'm not on steroids but thanks for asking."

March 2008:

Old age is definitely not for sissies.

May 2008:

The road to success is always under construction . . .

June 2008:

"If we don't invest much energy, then defeat doesn't hurt as much but neither is winning very exciting."

August 2008:

"Old age ain't for sissies."