They were almost 'within striking distance' of their goal. = Their goal was almost 'within striking distance'. [=they were close to achieving their goal]
He spotted the group 'at a distance of' one mile. [=he saw the group when they were one mile away from him]
('Brit') The book is better than the movie 'by some distance'. [=the book is much better than the movie]
(..) What about the interviews? Cancel them, cancel all of them. Everything. In fact, Dennett... Let's uh... Let's keep the wife at a distance for now as well. I would like to see him. Can you arrange that? Look, I won't lie to you Alex was so nervous we had to sedate him. (..)2014 RoboCop