Roger Bannister : 'The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win'
Gelindo Bordin : 'Scientific testing cannot determine how the mind will tolerate pain in a race. Sometimes i say 'today i can die'''
Steve Prefontaine : 'It's not who's the best - it's who can take the most pain' and 'Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it'
Alan Webb :' Distance races hurt. They are supposed to hurt. If you don't want to hurt then you shouldn't be in the sport'