I don't see the point of the Championship meets if all they try to do is go for the win?

competition is physical and mental. next.

Because it's wrong

Yea, it is best to just see how fast you can run, but people are tripping over one another trying to stay with the pack for whatever reason, it is not right. I'm not sure why the place matters in the meet.

Yes, to be the best you can be personally

Competition is for losers

This thread has been played out hundreds of times over the years, but this is truly one of the weirdest and weakest attempts to argue that tactical races are bad.

The first thing to understand is that you can't dictate what other people value. You value producing the fastest time you can, regardless of what place you finish. There are other people in the world who value placing as highly as possible in some (though certainly not all) races, regardless of how fast they run. Why do you think they should adopt your values rather than the other way around?

I also wonder whether you think all non-race sports are a waste of time. What is the ultimate goal in basketball? Is it to have the highest possible free-throw percentage? To score as many individual points as possible? Or to win the game? (Here's a hint, in case this is too complicated: it's the last one that matters.) Many runners view running in the same way, as a sport where the goal is match your skills against those of your competitors.

Running for you may be a purely personal pursuit, in which the only goal is the run your personal best. But that's probably because you've never been in position to win a race. As Quenton Cassidy once said, you are not allowed to renounce that which you never possessed.

I think I have came in "first" in probably about 40 to 50 races, I think. Then other comparative awards or winning a team game in other sports that I have done throughout the years through schooling and afterwards. I don't think awards and coming in first in comparison to a group of people matters. I am not some top athlete in comparison, but just happened to "win" in comparison to who I was up against. I have realized that it never mattered and it's a morally wrong mindset to try to win instead of try to be the healthiest you can or the fastest you can.

Actually, yes! We're a very competitive family.

I'm 66 and still trading off 5k times v my 63-year-old sister.

Why? If we're both in the race and about the same level why wouldn't we try to beat each other to the finish?

I don't get that mindset. Place matters more than time. A slow win beats a fast second place.

Good point. They should be trying not to go for the win! I'll pay attention to results then.

No you asked if I would race my mother or father. Why would they be in a championship race with me?

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME

so you’re basing this thread off your experiences of beating lower-tier competitors?

It's a race against other people to be the Champion , not a time trial. If you wanna spice it up, offer a million dollar bonus for a world record.

why? Who says that should make someone champion?

Being the fastest should be who is champion. World lead is champion.

Hicham El Guerrouj 3:26.00 is the undisputed champion of champions. Is Jakob gonna beat that? Nope. Jakob can collect all the hardware wants, he'll never be GOAT like he says.

In road cycling on the other hand, time means nothing. The race lasts hours and often is all about tactics. The entire team rides for their leader(s). A few seconds in the end decide the day. Agreed with everyone who's saying that's what sports is about.

The Dolphins aren't the NFL champions because they scored the most points in a game. The Chiefs are because they won the game.

Similar thing for cross country skiing. Time means zero from event to event. Even in the individual starts that are time trials, the time is only good for that day. Skiing a race in a blizzard can be easily be 50%+ slower than a fast snow day, very cold snow can be super slow, there are hills that are different on different courses.

Before there were stopwatches in common use (around the mid-1800s), you could race anyone head-to-head as is natural to want to do. Dogs, wolves, and other animals like to play chase/tag for example. Find a playful group of dogs, and they'll know all know who is the fastest (see video below). There wasn't such a thing as racing for time before stopwatches were invented, yet racing is a natural thing to want to do.