What is your running mantra? You know, that small but sacred motto you repeat when you need to dig deep and focus on a goal?
If you answered, “I don’t have one,” you probably do. You just have not recognised it yet.
This article explores the power of personal phrases that help us push forward, especially when things feel hard. Featuring stories and insights shared by fellow Out There Mothers (OTM), it highlights the overlap these phrases often have between running and life. If you do not have a running mantra yet, you will likely discover one by the time you finish reading.
Table of Contents
What Is a Running Mantra?
A mantra is a word or phrase that inspires strength, focus, motivation, or confidence when repeated aloud or internally.
The word “mantra” comes from ancient Sanskrit and means “mind” (man) and “instrument” (tra). It is often described as a tool for the mind, something we return to when focus fades or challenges feel overwhelming.
If you’re rebuilding after baby, a mantra can help you reconnect with your goals, especially when rediscovering how to start running postpartum.
Types of Running Mantras
While mantras are often thought of as favourite personal slogans, they can take many forms. Your mantra could be a:
- Short phrase
- Inspiring quote
- Single word
- Affirmation
- Chant
- Prayer
- Dedication
- Sound or song
The only real requirement is that it gives you strength when you call on it.
Running Mantras for Encouragement
Mantras built around encouragement work best when you are fighting the urge to stop.
My mantra: Just a few more steps
Strangely, my mantra did not develop during a race or one of my please-let-me-die runs. Instead, it surfaced during the exhausting, everyday tasks of parenting and housekeeping.
“Just a few more steps” shows up during my runs because it speaks to the same urge to give up and lie down, whether I am running a marathon or folding laundry.
I even have the phrase engraved on my Garmin’s ROAD iD as a reminder to keep going. Unless my watch is charging. Then all bets are off.
Encouraging phrases do their best work in the thick of adversity. When you feel close to crumbling, a supportive line can be the difference between disappointment and quiet pride.
Other encouraging mantras:
- One foot in front of the other
- You’ve got this
- Forward is forward
- You were made for this
- Keep calm, run on
- Let’s see what you can do
- Just keep running
- Trust the process
Running Mantras as Personal Slogans
Mantras often work beyond race day. Many women who shared their stories for this article said their personal slogans were not created for running at all.
Stephanie Northway’s mantra: Be a duck
Stephanie Northway is a mother of three who has run more than 200 marathons, several 100-milers, and regularly invents unique fitness challenges. One included running up and down her staircase to match the altitude of Mount Everest.
She has also lived with long-term anxiety and trauma, including the loss of her father at age 19.
“Be a duck means do not sweat the small stuff. Let it roll off your back the way water rolls off a duck,” Northway explained.
That mindset became a daily necessity. So much so that she had the phrase tattooed on her wrist.
“When I am having a tough moment, I glance at my wrist and repeat it,” she said. “During my first 100-miler, I looked at it many times.”
Other personal-slogan mantras:
- I’m not dead yet
- Get comfortable with the uncomfortable
- Let’s see what happens
- It’s tough, but it’s not impossible
- F*** that hill
- Run like it’s the last good run you’ll ever know
- Remember childbirth. You’ve got this
Running Mantras to Own Your Power
Mantras that emphasize ownership can be especially powerful when doubt creeps in.
Chelsea Light’s mantra: I haven’t come this far only to come this far
While running her first marathon, OTM writer and editor Chelsea Light repeated this phrase through the later miles.
“It reminded me of the work I put into training and that I was there to finish,” she said.
You cannot control every setback or barrier, but you can control whether you keep going. A phrase that reminds you of that agency can help restore strength when you feel powerless.
Other power-focused mantras:
- My race, my pace
- This is what I do
- I am a runner
- I’m here to finish
- I can do hard things
- I can. I will
Running Mantras as Dedications
Mantras built around dedication can unlock a second wind when motivation runs dry.
MC Covington’s mantra: Dedicating each mile to someone going through a hard time
A powerful example comes from my best friend, MC Covington.
Over the last three years, MC has become an experienced runner with 10Ks, half marathons, and countless long runs. The mum of three began running regularly when her youngest was two.
“On race days, I think of people who are going through a hard time,” she said. “I high-five the mile marker and dedicate that mile to them.”
Alongside these quiet dedications, MC also carries a more personal symbol. She wears a black shirt that reads “Bri vs. Detroit” at every race. While the phrase jokes about my ongoing effort to fall in love with Detroit since moving there in 2018, it still reflects the deeper idea of running with others in mind.
“When it feels really hard,” she said, “I remind myself that what they are going through is harder, and I push forward.”
You can dedicate your run to:
- A loved one
- A cause
- Someone going through a hard time
- A memory
- Your past self
Ways to Use Running Mantras
Repeating a phrase aloud or internally helps your brain focus on the task at hand and push distractions aside. You can use a running mantra at any point during a run to:
- Correct your form
- Calm nerves
- Interrupt negative thoughts
- Reconnect with your why
- Push through discomfort
Professional runner Neely Spence Gracey once divided a half marathon into segments and assigned a different phrase to each.
There is no rulebook for when or how to use your mantra. That freedom is what makes it yours.
The Recipe for a Running Mantra
The recipe for a running mantra doesn’t require poetic skill or severe epiphanies. A phrase containing the following is more important than structure and depth:
Positivity
Choose language that counters self-doubt and supports performance.
Tailored
Build your phrase around what you want from the experience.
Motivation and Grit
Your words should ignite the energy you need to keep moving.
Focus
A clear phrase helps quiet unrelated worries.z
Consistency
Repeating it in everyday life makes it more effective on race day.
Second-person Language
Using “you” instead of “I” can increase effort by mimicking encouragement from a coach or friend.
The Power of Running Mantras
As skilled as our brains are at convincing us we are not good enough, they are also capable of helping us believe in our strength.
Whether you already have a phrase you return to or are still searching for one that sticks, I hope this article helps you find a running mantra that carries you toward whatever goal is on your horizon.
Just a few more steps. I know you can do it.
FAQs
In modern times, the words “mantra” and “affirmation” are used interchangeably.
Although their earliest origins are different. Mantras relating to sounds or words that guide connection to a greater deity, and affirmations, are sentences that inspire positive thinking.
Both mantras and affirmations use positivity to rewire the brain to find clarity and focus on a desired outcome.
Mantras work by changing your brain chemistry to override cortisol, the stress hormone that saturates us with negative thoughts on a daily basis (jerk). The positivity inscribed in running mantras shifts your expectations toward success and away from failure.
Reciting mantras is a way to find calm in chaos, and when you’re able to do that, you’re able to focus your energy on a desired outcome.
