I have an example of just that. I got into an Absolute Poker freeroll back in the day. The prize pool was insanely high for a freeroll. First place was like $5,000. That's high for a freeroll. It paid 54 places. When we got down to 56 people, I was in 56th place. I decided to just hold on until I got to 54 and made $7 (or whatever it was). Then I just keep holding on... trying to ladder my way up. $12, $18, $27, etc. Finally, we got down to 10 people, and I decided if I got to the final table, I would just play. Well, I did. I got to the final table and had a $125ish prize for sure. I was last in chips. But, I decided to play for first.
No worries about things now. I got it down to three handed, and I had more chips than the other two combined. Three bad beats in a row, and I was out in 3rd. I wouldn't play the hands differently, though. I won like $1,500 and I have never been so angry to win that much money. It felt like I had lost $3.5k, not won as much as I did. It's funny, because a couple hours earlier, I was thrilled to win $7. This was one of the moments where I realized that tournament poker is not really good for my mental state.
Edit: It has been a while, so the numbers might be off. It was a $10,000 freeroll. And, I am pretty sure the payouts started at 54 people. So, if I could find absolute's payout schedule, we could get the real numbers.