I was cheated in my childhood

When I was a toddler I had older kid neighbors. Once they "raced" me around the block and let me get a huuuuge head start. Basically, they never even ran, they tricked me into running around the block by myself. I was beyond shocked when they "beat" me! I swear it took me until I was in my late teens to solve that mystery. And I'd been telling that story for years "how did those kids beat me?" Uhhhhh