Office Spaced Is A Race?

The other day I was failing missions just for the sake of it, and when I failed Office Spaced, not only did Smithers speak on the mission failed screen (something that should only happen in races, as I believe), but the screen itself said "You lost the race" and gave me a race-related hint.

Yeah, there's a race condition on that stage since you have to destroy him before he reaches the power plant. Slithery Sleuthing also has a case where you fail if Snake reaches the Observatory, if I remember correctly.
I'm sure there are more interesting uses of conditions like this somewhere, might be a fun thing to look into.

Thanks, Homer. I might check that.