Sort of.  At a three-mile race a few years ago, I was passed in the last couple of hundred yards by both a guy pushing his daughter in a stroller and the guy running with his dog.  I made a big joke about it and I became the butt of a series of jabs from my friends in my running group.  I had a good time meeting the dog's owner and the dog (she won her age group, bitches 3-5).  I made the joke that the dog was my personal nemesis and my running goal was to beat her in a race.  After about two more years running the local races, Sweetie (the dog) was like 5-0 against me and what started as a joke became an all-consuming passion for me.  I really had to beat that dog!  I finally beat her in a five-mile race, which might have been a little too long for her (or her owner).  Or maybe she went off course to chase a squirrel or mark some territory or something.

 

Also, when my group first started running and I was a complete newbie, there was a guy who ran with the local experienced runners who came over to talk with us, essentially to find out what we were all about.  He was pretty arrogant about his skills and experience, so I decided that someday I was going to beat his butt in a race.  It turns out he was a bit faster than me, but not that much, maybe 30 seconds faster in a 5k, so I really had a shot at him.  It took several years of getting closer and closer to him in races until this past May, when I spied him in the distance about a half mile from the finish of a five-miler.  I knew I could catch him and I went for it.  I passed him about a quarter mile from the finish and he was huffing and puffing.  I was taking his arrogant @zz to school!  As I passed him, he told me, "nice job, Tom,"  which surprised me since I didn't think he knew my name, and it was so nice of him that it took all the fun out of beating him.  Well, most of the fun.  Why couldn't he have put on a huge effort to try to stay with me, grunting and gasping for air only to fail in his ultimate futility? 

A good buddy of mine had a 'dog' nemises for years.  The joke was always if he was going to beat the dog or not.  The thing was is that the owner actually ran 2-3 minutes slower w/o FIDO.  Sadly, my buddy suffered a massive heart attack while running, just after the race in which he qualified for Boston.  My screen name used to be part of his e-mail.  And he never did beat that damn dog.

Your other comment made me laugh.  It's crazy how worked up I get, carrying around a resentment against someone, when they are clueless as to why or if I am even mad at them.  And yes, when those people are nice to you, it sort of takes the wind out of your sails, and I realize how big of a jerk I am/was/can be.

I found a picture of me and my nemesis!  Sweetie was taunting me after this race!  I am the one on the right without the collar.

The expression on her face is priceless.  "Yeah, this joker thinks he can beat me.  Huh, yeah.   Sure."