Who says you have to land back on the runway you just left anyway?
Alignment was mentioned earlier and it is a red herring. Often a cross runway will be just as suitable because many fields have preferential runways due to local noise restrictions. I have a hard enough time persuading a couple of radio operators that I will not be using the runway they advise for this reason. I even caught one lyinig on air that a runway was Notamed closed when it wasn't.
Anyway, in the commercial aviation world we are advised to crash on an airport if possible. An airport has many advantages for crashing on including a minimum response time for emergency services and usually loads of obstacle free space.
When I suffered an engine failure I chose to land on a big open grass area of the airfield, NOT on the runway which had a crosswind. Admittedly, I was insured in that I was very high at the time of the failure but this, perhaps, emphasizes the point. You don't have to land on a runway.