Question: Which is more important: the running experience or actually winning the race?
Sri Chinmoy: Always there should be a goal. Having a goal does not mean that you have to try to defeat the world’s top runners such as Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter; far from it. Your goal should be your own progress, and progress itself is the most illumining experience.
Sri Chinmoy, AUM — Vol.II-6, No. 6, June 1980, Vishma Press, 1980