Chanced across this verse when I was reading the bible! Well, at the least, I have a new verse to try and remember when I go through long distance runs in the new future (:

Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
-1 Corinthians 9:24-26