That a friend would belittle the feelings of achievement I had bothered me enough to seek an objective opinion, but now I think maybe from his vantage point on the sidelines it wasn't so much about belittling my accomplishment as it was about making himself feel better for not trying.

Probably. Everything people say is a projection of some sort. You didn't ask, but perhaps I can make a suggestion anyway.

When it seems to be an argument about the meaning of words, it might be a good idea to say "What do you mean?" Just to be really sure what the friend is on about. In the friend's linguistic universe -- which is all his previous experiences of races and competitions and the English language -- completing a challenge ahead of more than half of the other competitors may not be a race. It's perfectly okay to find out what he means and then say, "I can see why you might feel that this is not a race. I'm quite happy calling it a race though." btw, Lisa F, hubski is a female-friendly place, although the dominant demographic is intelligent, curious, open-minded young men between the ages of 18 and 26 followed by similar men 27-35.