In one scene of The Adventures of Tintin (the beloved comics series), the thoroughly clueless, extremely clumsy and incompetent detective duo of Thomson and Thompson are in their jeep, in hot pursuit of a gang of good-for-nothing chaps. And then comes along Tintin hammering past them in a big car, and Thompson (God bless him), proceeds to step out of the moving jeep. Relative to Tintin’s speeding car, their jeep had stopped. Or so it seemed.

Any regular runner relates to this. One guaranteed mood deflator on the road is another jogger whizzing past you, and next you know, swoosh! He disappears on the horizon. After 20+ years of road running, you would think that wouldn’t bother me, but no! I still have to deal with it. My fireproof, tried-and-tested coping mechanism is to rationalize. Yeah. I look at the chap, smile (sometimes wave) and tell myself he must be doing a 3km run. Not like me who’s running half a marathon. That’s right. Works well for me every time!

This morning, I was the lone jogger most of the first 10km. And then ahead of me, I caught glimpse of this one chap. The farther I ran, the more the distance closed in on us. And surprise, surprise, swoosh! I ran right past him. I must admit I picked up pace as I got closer. And what do you know, I left him in the cloud of dust I was raising! Gave me a temporary high but left me feeling empty. Is this what it’s all about?

But isn’t this a measure of how we go about “achieving” in life – relationships, career, business and all the other pursuits? And it feels terrible to be left in a cloud of dust, doesn’t it?

The Greek word for race is agon; the English equivalent is agony. The race of life is both a contest and a conflict. Only that we race not against opponents, but against ourselves.

But we have to be reminded. The race of life is unique to the individual, and is not always about making a podium finish. And how do you go about the race of life? Choosing not to look over your shoulder at every turn. Choosing not to make it your sole purpose to whizz past the guy ahead of you (or else die trying). It’s running the race set before you. It is to embrace the challenge. Trust the process. Enjoy the journey. And finish well.