Time & Perspective Quote by Haile Gebrselassie

The charm of Haile Gebrselassie’s line is how aggressively un-legendary it sounds. This is a man whose name practically functions as shorthand for endurance greatness, yet he shows up sounding like any runner toeing the line after time away: rusty, curious, a little wary. It’s a strategic modesty that lands because it’s believable. He’s not performing invincibility; he’s acknowledging the one thing elite sport never stops teaching you: your body keeps receipts.

“I haven’t done a marathon for a long time” isn’t just a training note. It’s a quiet admission that the marathon is a different animal, even for someone who once bent it to his will. The distance doesn’t care about reputation. Past trophies don’t metabolize lactic acid. In that sense, the sentence punctures the myth that greatness is a permanent state; it’s a temporary agreement between preparation, health, and the day’s conditions.

Then comes the disarming pivot: “So we’ll see.” That shrug carries the wisdom of experience. It signals an athlete who understands outcomes are probabilistic, not promised. “I will need good luck” completes the humbling arc. Not luck as superstition, but luck as the sum of uncontrollables: weather, pacing, minor niggles, a stomach that behaves, a field that doesn’t force you into someone else’s race. For a champion, admitting that out loud isn’t weakness. It’s respect for the event and a subtle reminder that the marathon’s real power is its ability to make everyone, even the greats, negotiate.