Steve Prefontaine

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift.

A lot of people run a race to see who is 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. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself.

To do anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

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

- Steve Prefontaine