The person who reaches a milestone late still deserves a welcome at the finish.

Attention gathers at the front of a field and thins out fast. By the time the slower finisher arrives, the crowd is packing up, which turns an achievement into a private matter for the person who worked hardest and longest for it. Arriving late usually means more effort rather than less, and a welcome given at that hour is worth more than any of the earlier ones.

If you know somebody finishing something behind the expected schedule, be there at the end of it. A message on the day, or a chair kept warm, says the achievement counted regardless of the clock.