To stroll or not to stroll

I heard a woman give advice about life to her grand-daughter this morning on NPR. She said "It's not a marathon, it's a stroll."
It's so easy to get caught up in the "race." In reality, I hate running (both on the track and metaphorically). I love the idea of enjoying life as we go through it and although marathoners may say they enjoy the result (crossing the finish line) they never really seem to enjoy the run itself. But then...the end result (where you end up) can be pretty important I suppose. So the question is, can a person be in the race, not kill themselves in the marathon and still end up where they want to? Why not. In fact, I think it'd be fun to be one of those people that dresses up in the Boston Marathon. They still cross the finish line and are incredibly happy even though they may not have come in first. And really - the people who come in first are usually covered in diarrhea from not stopping to take care of business. Ew.