If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.

My running was very simple; it was out of myself.

When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow,slow,slow. People said, 'Emil, you are crazy. You are training like a sprinter.'

If I can get better, why not?

One day the factory sports coach, who was very strict, pointed at four boys, including me, and ordered us to run in a race. I protested that I was weak and not fit to run, but the coach sent me for a physical examination and the doctor said that I was perfectly well. So I had to run, and when I got started I felt I wanted to win. But I only came in second. That was the way it started.

I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.

If you come to think of it, you never see deer, dogs and rabbits worrying about their menus and yet they run much faster than humans.

I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same time