Running to stand still

Decided to run the OU tour this week. 5m race today, 5K on Wednesday and 10K on Friday. I don't really like running races because I always try hard and that makes it unpleasant.
But it was an excuse to take it easy on Sunday so pottered around on a sunny day ticking off small jobs.
Today was back to work. To find that goalposts had moved again. And that some high profile new systems had imploded (thankfully nothing to do with me). Apparently a working party will have to be set up to decide whether it was a fiasco or a debacle.
And so to the race. I set off too quickly and, after 1/2 a mile, I was leading the whole thing. Luckily, my shoelace came undone and I could pause. I eventually finished in 4th place. Or, as I like to think of it, first person wearing a football shirt (rather than a running club vest).
This person finished after me.