Humans evolved to run marathons

by Guest Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:31 pm

For our size, we humans have the biggest brains in the animal kingdom, but physically we appear pretty mediocre.
Surprisingly, it turns out that your average fit human can outrun a deer. In fact, a theory claims that we humans evolved the ability to be good endurance runners, so we could chase animals for hours, run them to a standstill, and kill them. The theory continues that their high-density protein and energy helped our brains evolve bigger and bigger.
Back in 1978, Michael Baughman wrote an article in Sports Illustrated about how he outran a deer. The deer is more of a sprinter, than a marathon runner.
On a warmish day (around 27°C) it took him about four hours to run down the deer over a distance of 24 kilometres, across the open range lands and orchards near his home. He got to within a few metres of the exhausted animal, talking quietly and soothingly, and then touched the deer's sweaty flank. Unlike our primeval ancestors, he let the deer escape.
Michael could run down the deer just like his Indian Mohawk ancestors, not just because he could run a marathon in under three hours. There was also some basic biomechanical physiology involved.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/06/03/4015913.htm