Motivation Quote by Haile Gebrselassie

It lands like a quiet act of defiance against the modern sports machine: the idea that the most important number in the building might be irrelevant. Coming from Haile Gebrselassie, a runner whose name is practically braided into the history of world records, the line isn’t modesty. It’s leverage.

The surface message is tactical - don’t chase the clock, race the race. But the subtext is richer: London isn’t just a course, it’s a stage where expectations, sponsorship pressure, and national pride all show up wearing bibs. By saying a world record will be “the last thing,” Gebrselassie resets the terms of the spectacle. He frames the event around competition, atmosphere, and survival rather than a lab experiment in pace-setting. In the era of metronomic “record attempts” built with rabbits, split charts, and optimized conditions, he’s reminding everyone that marathoning is still messy and human.

There’s also a psychological play here. Publicly downshifting goals lowers the burden of inevitability - the trap where anything less than a record reads as failure. It’s a shield for himself and a subtle jab at commentators who reduce greatness to seconds shaved.

Context matters: London marathons are crowded with elites, weather can turn, tactics can get cagey. His intent is to signal readiness for a fight, not a time trial. The quote works because it’s believable coming from someone who’s already cashed the world-record chip; only then can you afford to pretend the clock doesn’t matter.