Races should only be for FAST people

You should wander off into the wilderness and sit down under a tree and maybe wake up in March.

Ritz: " I race to win. That's the point."

Do you sink as much time & energy into fretting about why people choose their mates, careers, hobbies, and foods?

If you were genuinely curious about why people who can't win outright would still choose to race, why don't you ask them? You know, it's not your personal burden to figure it out on your own.

Jack, you were never fast. After all, you never raced in International events or Golden League meets, you were only fast compared to the weak competition that you raced against. Your times were an order of magnitude slower than the US and World records, why did you bother racing?

I guess no one should ever play informal basketball games with their friends unless they can be in the NBA or play touch football unless he's NFL material.

They do it because it another alibi to fill the vacuum of their lives. They do it because they enjoy it. They do it because they want to get a PR. They do it because they are not poor and after doing a cost/benefit analysis it somehow seems worth it.

The Why Race? question is interesting. It's not required after all. I can be a runner without being a racer. My wife is always advising me to be "more moderate in all things." And she's smart, this is good advice.

But you know what? A person can get too much of this moderate stuff. Who wants to live a life that's always safe, controlled, aiming for the middle path?

Every once in a while I still want to feel the burn. To push to the limit. To be near collapse when I cross the finish line. Sure, I already know the result: It will be shown that I'm older and slower than I was yesterday and the day before that. I don't need a race to tell me these things.

But a race says I'm not ready to surrender. It says I'm going to keep struggling to squeeze all I can out of this life. It says I'm not checking out of here until I've given it my all. Yes, I know I'm gonna die some day.

But I have a good feeling about tomorrow's race.

Well said LOL

Nice quote..

But you can do all that in a simulated time trial. Go out on a measured loop and push yourself to the limit once a month if you must...

Still begs the question - Why race?

You can't get a PR under my assumed scenario. Read the OP carefully

Only really good-looking people should be allowed to have sex.

Pad Berson,

playing informal basketball games is not the same as racing...anymore than Tuesday night's group tempo run is not the same as racing

kapal,

it may be weak competition but it's still my city's championship 5K race with a whole lot of local media coverage and public appraisal

Why start a thread on Letsrun when it will never be close to being the best? Even if it was 100 years old and age-graded. I'm a failure so I must quit. There should only be one thread, maybe two.

Funny how everyone seems to be skirting around the question, as if to search for an answer that isn't readily available.

It's not a rhetorical question. I challenge anyone to come up with a coherent, intelligible answer.

A runner who doesn't race is not a failure. And she need not quit. The question remains - why race?

You're joking right?

People have not only responded to your insane "only for fast people" statement, when you know you were never fast by any meaningful standard, but they have also posted multiple reasons to race and compete.

The reasons one would race are as varied as the individuals themselves, just as your reason for quitting is. Lot's of people quit, like yourself, and there are actually some acceptable reasons for quitting. Yours, however, is not, since your reason is that you don't think racing is for those without a reasonable chance of winning (i.e. you) and yet millions do it. Furthermore, if the reason to race was to win only, and not to achieve some other intermediate goal or individual goal, then the entire structure of racing and competition between Cutler Grammar School Field Day and the 2012 Olympics would break down.

By the way, if you find a club where people train and do workouts until they drop, but don't race, let me know, because that's just weird.

"Why race?" I find competition exhilarating. I have won races, but they are neither my proudest or most exhilerating competitive moments, the races were small and my results sometimes unfullfilling. As a Master, if I achieve the race goals I have laid out for myself in 2010, this will be my best year ever.

call me jack wrote:

kapal,

it may be weak competition but it's still my city's championship 5K race with a whole lot of local media coverage and public appraisal

Irrelevant. You were never fast.

this is something i've thought about when i line up at road races.

i ran in college, where you toe the line with 10 or 12 guys (maybe a few more depending on the event) and you know exactly why you are there. sometimes chasing a standard, sometimes racing for the win, but you know the reason you're on the line - run fast or win or both.

i've often wondered how i would react as i age and am no longer able to devote the time to training (job, family, etc) or have the ability to PR over certain distances.

my primary motivation right now is racing and improving. i was stuck in a lull over the summer and once i picked a spring race, i was much more motivated to train for it.

maybe some of the older runners can offer a better commentary. i've heard of chasing age-group PRs (35-39 PR, for example) and there's always age-graded times. any other strategies?

maybe when i'm older i'll be able to do 100 mi/100 shots/1 week.

Somewhat like you, I mostly only race when I think I have at least an outside chance to win or place highly. But I understand why other people race, and why I sometimes do ski races that I'm not as good at as running. It may not be like the informal basketball game, but it is like the after work soccer or baseball league that some of my friends or acquaintances participate in. These sporting events are all organized, and have a winners and losers, and placings.

People race for competition and the fun of competing. Competition isn't only for the win. Most people race most often in their own city or region, and they are competing against their friends, family, and other race regulars (or other local soccer, basketball, baseball fun league teams). They know who they are racing against and where they currently stand against these people they race every week. They try to beat these other competitors to get bragging rights for the week, season, or whatever the stake is.

The fall race series where I live, where I see this spirit of competition all the time, is not $30 per race. It is $30 total for the entire series of 9 races, and even cheaper for kids and families. It is not a fund racer, so the people who show up are there to race, and then socialize afterwards with like-minded people. We get often get 800+ people per race in this weekly series, and it is really fun. It can also be motivating. Often people show up, get their butt kicked, and then are motivated to train to do better because they know who they are comparing themselves to.