Is life just a race that ends nowhere?

"We are running for an imperishable crown. We get to invest our whole life to run a race that we get to receive an imperishable crown, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom is above all things, the one whom we desire and treasure. He says we get him. So why don't you run?" We are challenged with the question: "What kind of runner are you?" We want to be a church of Christ followers who don't just start the race well, but we also want to end well. We want to run to win, to lay down everything, to be disciplined as Paul was, for an imperishable prize. We are warned that we are only one step away from danger; however, we have great hope in Christ, who will never let us go. And so as a church, we run together, to keep each other on track as we run towards the crown of glory that awaits. 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:13 (24) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (25) Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (26) Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. (27) No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (10:1) For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. (2) They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (3) They all ate the same spiritual food (4) and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (5) Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (6) Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. (7) Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” (8) We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. (9) We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. (10) And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (11) These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. (12) So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (13) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.