Ran rings around, in a way, clever writer (10)

'ran rings' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to competing as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'around in a way clever writer' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'around' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'way' could be 's' (Compass direction - South) and 's' is located in the answer.
'writer' could be 'ed' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'ed' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?