You can choose to race toward a predetermined end alongside a slew of equally eager competitors. And end up exactly where you decided to be, with a number fixed to your shirt and if you're lucky, a medal hung round your neck.
Or you can choose to wander off the track completely and see where it takes you. It might be dangerous. It might be lonely. It might be peculiar.
There are racers and there are gallumphers, I suppose.