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I understand the sentiment - and yes tradition is important in human culture. That said its like we've trained so acutely for the test but the test doesn't really answer any good questions.

Historically running had a very important part of humanity. You needed to run from animals for hunting, if you were a warrior you needed to fight and run, etc. It feels like this is one of those races that was historically important as a human metric but no longer has the heft of value except for nostalgia.




What are physical tests that are actually important to a modern day human? I don't think there's anything that can be taken to an extreme that is a good measure of an activity that is valuable to modern society.


Long distances sports actually have excellent returns on emotional regulation, health and well being. Very important to modern day humans.


Well, if you want to view it in that broad of light, pretty much all physical activity has excellent returns on emotional regulation, health, and well being, including sprinting.


I mean, you could say the same thing about art. What value does art provide? We don't need it for survival.

Art and sport are things that make the human experience the human experience. That is their value. They exist and are important for their own sake.




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