Courtney Dauwalter, one of the greatest athletes in ultra running, has long emphasized the importance of mental toughness. Known for her resilience, Courtney breaks races into manageable milestones, using simple yet powerful mantras such as "embrace the pain" and "right foot, left foot" to manage pain, maintain rhythm, and stay focused.
“Believe is a mantra that I use pretty often,” Courtney shares. “If you just repeat it over and over in your head, there’s no room for anything else but to believe that you can keep on going no matter what it looks like.” For her, the "pain cave" is a mental space where growth happens, a place she visualizes as chiseling away at endurance barriers.
Courtney recently asked her Instagram community: What’s your go-to mantra when it gets tough? The response was overwhelming, with thousands of runners sharing their perseverance-boosting phrases.
Common themes from the ultra community
The responses revealed several themes. Many runners focus on self-empowerment and resilience, with mantras like “I can do hard things” and “You got this” encouraging inner strength. Others emphasize breaking challenges into smaller steps with phrases like “One step at a time” or “Just keep swimming.”
Some runners use humor to cope, with playful mantras like “Don’t die!” or the sarcastic “This is dumb... keep going!” These bring levity to grueling moments. Gratitude also emerged as a motivator, with mantras like “Get to do this” reframing hardship as privilege.
Whether it’s Courtney’s “Believe” or the community’s “I can do hard things,” mantras anchor runners through challenges. They transform overwhelming distances into achievable milestones, carrying runners through the pain cave and beyond. Try one on your next run—you might be surprised how far the right words can take you.
These were the most liked comments on Courtney's post on Instagram:
- “I got sober, this is a piece of cake.”
- "It is how it is". When my son was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor age 7 this is what kept him going. Now I carry his memory with me on every trail and know: it is how it is.
- "Pain is just French for bread."
- "I get to do this" ✨️🏃♀️
- ...but did you die?
- Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right Foot. 👣👣👣
- "The faster you run, the faster you’re done.”
- “Be savage, not average!” My 11 year old came up with it and I love it
- I like to quote Dory from Finding Nemo with, “Just keep swimming”
- "Just one more" ....mountain, loop, step....Just one more (ps tattooed in my forearm, from the late Gabe Grunewald, "it's OK to struggle, it's not ok to give up"
- “”I’m here for the food 🤤🤤🤤🤤””
- “This is what you came for”
- “How bad do you want it?”
- I “get” to do this ❤️
- The power of mantras in ultra running
Check out the limited edition Suunto Race S Titanium Courtney sports watch. When the going gets tough, its glow-in-the-dark strap will remind you: Believe!