Track athletes met in the field of the real world on September 15. The stakes: freedom.

As brought to us by China Navis via Caijing, here’s a modern telling of the classic story of the tortoise versus the hare.

The thief, a former 800-meter runner, bumped into a policeman on his way down some stairs and suddenly took flight, thinking he’d call back his days of track and outrun his pursuer.

Unfortunately for him, the pursuer was an athlete himself, someone who often competes in international marathons.

The cop caught him after 2,000 meters.

The young man panted, “What was your job?”

“Running marathons,” came the reply.

The lesson here, as always: don’t steal. You’ll get got one way or another.

When a Thief, 800 meters Athlete, Meets with a Marathon Policeman (China Navis)