go the distance

verb2

1. •
   To participate in a boxing match for its maximum number of rounds.

   • "In a way it's like the quality of muscle and heart that enables some prizefighters to go the distance—twenty, thirty, forty rounds, say," Dick concurred. — 1915
2. •
   To have the endurance to see a difficult, sustained challenge to its natural end without faltering.

   • "Do you notice how every one is trying to avoid the subject of the war? . . . I am sure they cannot keep it up." "They won't go the distance," Julian whispered. — 1920