The battle is not only about strength and speed but is also a lot about wits. The spiders will take hours, or even a couple of days to complete their fight over their web. Since it does not take long for a spider to build a web, I always wonder why the spider doesn't just leave and find a new place to build her web and let the newcomer have the old one. She will not, however, and will fight to the death for her web.
These spiders remind me of Song of Solomon 9:11, which says in part, "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."