Sentence:  The first sentence , with its platitudinous irony , announces an emblematic intent : `` The way to the churchyard ran along beside the highroad , <WSD>ran</WSD> beside it all the way to the end ; that is to say , to the churchyard '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point