Reminds me of an Olympic marathon some years ago...
Everyone else had entered the stadium and finished hours ago, but one runner was still on the course. Whupped tired, stopping to rest now and then when he couldn't go on.
But he was determined to finish.
The officials closed the stadium, and started laying down the tarps and things for the closing ceremonies, and a group of other runners persuaded them to open the gate, and wait until this guy finished.
A few of them even went back along the course, to encourage him.
Finally, practically staggering into the stadium, he came in, to the cheers of a bunch of other runners and the few workers and spectators that were there.
He crossed the finish line something like 5 hours after the next-to-last finisher... but by god, he finished, and he crossed the finish line!
One day, when I'm not so lazy, I'll google and see if I can figure out when, and who, that was... I think early 90's.
Watching that motivated me... this guy DID NOT QUIT. He was dead last, but he didn't quit.