2nd on FTP freeroll...should i be happy?

I tried to play my best online poker and it worked. I finished 2nd and won $8.50. I also tried to do my best to win a little reputation on this site (i like it really much, and maybe now my threads will have more than 2 replies lol). If someone read my thread "Even Jesus goes on tilt"(it´s on the third page i guess), in this freeroll happened something like the second situation i told. Early on the tourney i was down to $500, but i came back and stayed with like $5000 in the most time of the tourney. I was playing to place top 15, but then afeter of winning a couple of hands, i was playing to place 12,11,10,9,8 and so forth and forth till we were 5. i stayed most of the time in final table with like $20000, and there was a key hand with me having like $30000 against a guy (who ended first) with like $23000. I lost the hand (the other guy went all in and in the turn he hit the poker of 7s) and almost went on tilt. I was lucky because on the next hand a was dealt crap, so it was an easy fold and i had time to relax. I was ready to play at my normal level again, but i didn´t get any cards to play. When i was down to $4000, i was dealt 99. I was ready to go all in but a player with $7000 in first position went all in, and then the chip leader (with like $90000) called. I knew this was the time to laydown my hand and pray for the chip leader to win that hand. I folded and the first position player showed AK against 66 of the chip leader. An A came on the river. For the chip leader it was nothing, but for me it was a terrible hand. After some hands, my stack size raised to $8000, and in an unexpected hand, the player who had $14000 went all in preflop. The chipleader called. I don´t remember exactly the hand, but i know that the chipleader won. The chipleader now had $122000, i had $8000 and the other player had $30000. After a couple of hands, i had $10000. Then, on another unexpected hand, after the turn the other player went all in and the chipleader called. I only remember that the chipleader showed 7s fulls of As and won the hand. I couldn´t be more happy. After having $4000 and ready to place 5th, now i had the 2nd place and the chance of making an incredible comeback to win the tourney. Along the final table i specially put attention on the chipleader style (don´t know why), and i saw that he was a really easy player to bluff at, specially betting and reraising preflop. After some minutes, i had $55000, and was the underdog just by 1:2. I thought i was near to win the tourney, but then it happenned. I had $40000 and the chipleader had $120000. After lots of raises preflop, i went all in with QQ. I was glad when my opponent showed A10, because if i had won that hand we would be even in chips, but an A came in the flop. I finished 2nd.
Now after a few hours later, my brain tells me that i made a good tourney and won $8.50 (i know it´s nothing, but money is money), but my heart is still telling that i was really near to win that tourney.
Well, that´s all. Maybe it´s a long story for only a freeroll, but for me any poker tourney matters.
I cannot wait till the next freeroll comes, and this time i´m gonna win it!