fannypack wrote:
I run competitively to be a part of the running community. I love going to races and forming new relationships and enjoying a nice beer afterwards. I'm not fast by any means, but I live in a small college town where I'm fast enough to win almost any race I enter. It's a great confidence booster. I ask myself if I still would run the same way if I lived in a big city where I wouldn't crack the top 50 in most races, and the answer is yes. Speed aside, I love going out for runs and seeing other runners enjoying the same sport that I love.
I'm nowhere near winning any race (unless everyone else forgets the date and I'm the only one who remembers, ha!). But like you, I also appreciate the community and being part of that.
I also like the challenge of pursuing goals, which change as I get older. PRs are pretty much behind me, but not the buzz of pushing myself in a race or workout.
If there were no races, would I do the same thing? Certainly hope so, even if I doubt very much that the same choice of shoes, apparel, running clubs, sports med docs, massage therapists, etc., would be available. Races have more or less spurred the growth of an industry that supports runners and running. Would that industry survive the lack of races? And for how long?
But then again, there likely will never be a lack of races, because the competitive urge, as posters above have shown, never goes away. Heck, I might at 100 want to shuffle to the nursing home lunchroom faster than my room-mate. ;)
Knowing this, people hold races--and people attend them.
And age group awards? If they're usable--such as gift cards or the like--whether they're lame or not is irrelevant to the $ I save using using them. (Okay, sure I already paid for the race and the gift card may only partly recoup the cost, but given I may have been planning to run the race anyway, I'm cool with that.) So I'm always happy to win an age group award in such cases. I don't need to, but as they're available, part of the fun is to aim for them. And as I haven't a snowball's chance of winning overall, the age divisions enhance the thrill of the chase for the less speedy.
However, I've been known to enjoy races with no age divisions or with 10+ year age divisions. It's in part the competition and pushing myself and in part the time afterward to connect with friends who share my interest.