You don’t seem to allow for laziness to mean anything.  I have been lazy and suffered for it.  I know laziness.  I don’t like it.  It’s harmful to me.  I suppose it may not be harmful to you.  However, I must say that laziness can certainly lead to poverty and suffering.

In any case, I appreciate extended analogies such as this one, and I like to take them further than most .  Running from one place to another is certainly analogous to living a life, but the goal that motivates you in running is the destination, while the goal in living a life keeps changing from one detour to another, and we put a lot of work into avoiding the destination.  No one is living so that they can die.  Ok, well, some are, but not most.  And when you start adding detours to your run, the distance does change.

There is one thing missing in your simplistic contemplation of life and that is: the reason for doing something.

Why DO you run every Saturday?
Life has a beginning and an end, but between these two there is much to do. Having a cup of tea and watching life go by should be a well deserved pastime, but after half an hour, this fatalistic perception of life should end. Then one should get up and go: Because this is your life and it is your decision what you do with it.

You say the distance is the same:  That may be true, but the way a person covers the distance that is up to them.