Crossword Genius

Become exhausted as route ends in detour (4,2,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

runs to seed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'become exhausted as route ends in detour' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'become exhausted as route' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'become' could be 'run' (running is a kind of becoming) and 'run' is found in the answer.
'route' could be 'st' (abbreviation for street) and 'st' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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