Should we and can we judge numbers?

People like to compete and compare. Running is a super competitive sport even at the amateur level and rightly so because it is an easy way to prove that you are better than the ones slower than you and that ego boost is something that we look for in every race. 

We may tell ourselves that we are doing it for ourselves and that competition is not why we run but that argument will hold true only if you never participate in a timed race. 

If you show up at a timed race, it means that you have decided to test your potential and see how you fare against the general population, which thought is not a bad thing in itself because the ego needs pampering for various reasons and well running is an easy way since you're sure that you'll be faster than some participant.

We are quick to dismiss slower runners and elevate the faster ones and this habit gets reinforced when we see others acting in the same way. Our behaviour and interactions with runners, during training, racing and otherwise, is influenced by the knowledge of whether we are faster or slower than them. This is not a bad thing per se but it is flawed in my opinion. 

It is flawed because the person judging the other runner may not be aware of the reasons leading up to the faster or slower performances. The other runner may be facing a number of circumstances in his life which may not be conducive to training, effort and performance or it may be the opposite and his life may be such that it would be a dream come true for you and he has all the time and resources to give it all in training, effort and performance. 

Is the other guy working odd hours, does he have family woes, is his life complete and perfect; so many factors which can affect racing. So a simplistic assumption that you are faster than the other guy because you train more, have more discipline, have the will to push through pain may be flawed.

Does this mean that to compare with other runners we have to be in a lab where you have to be given the exact same life as the other runner and then see the performances to come to a concrete conclusion or maybe assume that only the elites are really competing with each other since their lives are almost similar and like a simple motto "eat, sleep, train, repeat"? No, that would be impossible but what is possible at an amateur level is to train and race in the most intense way that your circumstances allow and then know and bask in the warmth of the feeling in your heart of hearts that you gave it your all and it doesn't matter what the time was. 

As some old timer (probably Socrates) said, “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”