Been reading a great book called Why We Run by a guy called Bernd Heinrich which is a sort of natural history of human beings running (well worth buying if you're interested). One of his arguments is that human beings evolved as runners - it's their most defining trait. It's what kept them alive, he says. He gives the very engaging example of humans catching antelope to eat by running them to exhaustion. Very counter-intuitive, obviously. Hence why it's such a good example. But turns out that antelopes can only run fast for very short distances. Like all animals. So as long as humans can keep antelope physically in sight, it only takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to run the antelope to complete exhaustion. The distance the animal can run before overheating, especially in hot sunshine, gradually gets shorter and shorter. (2.5 hours is 3 hours is also the time it will take a fit human to run a marathon. Coincidence?). This theory has also been successfully tested. So is this how humans caught their food? Seems sensible to me.
The scientific and intriguing explanation is that human beings are the only animals whose breath patterns are not tied to their strides. Cheetahs, for instance, have lungs that work like bellows work like belows. When they stretch their front legs forward and back legs back when running, their lungs suck in air, then whey they pull their legs back towards each other their lungs expel the air. And they heat up to potentially lethal temperatures incredibly quickly. Which makes them very, very quick - but only over short distances. As they stand upright, humans can breath in and out at any rate that suits them, within reason, regardless of what their legs are doing. And critically, they sweat profusely which lets them lose heat quickly and keep going even in midday desert sun.
So deep down in us all is the desire and need and ability to run.
The stuff you learn...
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