Speedrunners are the people who are the most dedicated to a game, having analysed it for hundreds of hours, they deeply understand every corner of it and appreciate everything that the game has to offer.

And then they break it over their knee.

It's more like they made an optimization puzzle out of a game they really likes.

Also before you speedrun you gotta understand the game and it's capabilities first and well.

Speedrunners tend to be superfans, and I'm sure their first playthrough of a game is done in the intended manner. Also consider that beloved games tend to have more active speedrun scenes - People speedrun Majora's Mask precisely because of its wonderful atmosphere.

But yeah actually watching speedruns isn't for everyone

To me, it’s like someone took art, sucked the creative soul out of it, and turned it into a math game.

I agree but I don't come to the same conclusion. It's akin to saying cubism is weird and paintings should be naturalistic.

Beside the artistic value, though, it leans more toward obsessively abusing rather than loving a videogame, as far as his intended purpose was.

To an extent is an act of rebellion and vandalism.

I get where you're coming from, but understand that your way of enjoying things isn't necessarily the right way to enjoy them. Some would say that ignorance of the technical aspects of a game's design betrays a shallow appreciation of the work based entirely on its aesthetic value.

This is a bit like telling athletes that they should appreciate the human body for what it is, rather than try and lift the heaviest weight or run the fastest. Part of a holistic appreciation for the human body/a work of art/a video game is an understanding of what makes it tick, what its limitations are, and how far you can push the limits.

I also don't much like watching speedruns, but I can understand that while some speedrunners are only in it for the numbers, the vast majority of them appreciate the games on a deeper level than I ever could.