Clearly, the organizers of PBP understand competition, and yet they don't see PBP as a race. The difference is subtle, and it has to do with civility. While racing is more like a battle, with only one rider coming out as a winner, randonneuring is all about the civilized enjoyment of cycling. Or as a non-randonneuring friend once put it: It is the quest for the perfect cyclist, any distance, any weather, self-sufficient.
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The difference to racing is clear: Races defer to the fastest riders. By definition, potential winners of a race are more important than other riders. If a slower rider gets lapped in a circuit race, at the very least, they are expected to get out of the way of the faster riders, if they aren't pulled out of the race entirely. In a randonneur event, every participant is equally important. Fast riders cannot expect slower ones to make way for them at controls. Even the fastest are expected to behave in a civil and polite manner toward other participants, spectators and officials.