When I went out for the crew team, I didn't know if I had what it took to last the season. I wanted to find out. But why? I think subconsciously it was to know that I could do something that a lot of other people couldn't. In other words, to see how I "measure up". 95 guys tried out for the team in the fall. 20 were left come springtime, and I was proud to be one of them. I taught myself a new level of perseverance in the process, and that is the biggest benefit. But I'd be lying if I told you I didn't care what other people think of that.
Both. Of course - because in a real game, you care about getting closer to the championship. Or in a real race, you care about where you finish.
I don't think you're stopping to think about what I'm asking. The question is, "why compete?". Let's neglect fund raising for the sake of argument. I think that's different and irrelevant. I think when you boil it down, you compete either to show people that you're good or are the best, or, to see how you measure up against others when it's on the record. In the former case, you obviously care what other people think about you. In the latter case, you get a personal sense of satisfaction, but you also get an ace up your sleeve that you can play whenever you want. You can then say to someone "hey, I ran the Boston Marathon", at any time afterwards in your life if you need to for whatever reason. Even if you never play that card, just having it is a form of insurance you can use to affect what other people think of you. If you feel you need that, then you care what other people think of you.
If you just want to see if you can run a marathon, you don't have to actually run the Boston Marathon. So why bother?
It's the tree falling in the forest thing.
Again, nothing wrong with caring what other people think of you. I just call BS whenever a competitor claims they don't.