Why distance running is human nature

There’s a credible school of thought that humans evolved from ape-like ancestors to become expert distance runners. And the science behind it is fascinating…

Could it be that the human ability to run long distances is central to our very existence? That’s the argument behind a body of research led by University of Utah biologist Dennis Bramble and Harvard University anthropologist Daniel Lieberman.

Evolution: out of the trees

The idea is that homo sapiens evolved from more ape-like human ancestors millions of years ago thanks to natural selection. Essentially, members of the species that could run were more likely to thrive so, over time, anatomical features developed to improve long-distance running.

Dennis Bramble says: "We are very confident that strong selection for running – which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees – was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form. Running has substantially shaped human evolution.”

Bramble and Lieberman’s research - which is heavily referenced in one of our favourite books, Chris MacDougall’s Born to Run - found that there are 26 traits in the human body that give us the ability to run for long distances. These include the intricate bone structure within the foot to create a natural springing motion as we run, the lengthening of human legs and many complex ligament developments that aid running.

Running as hunters

This theory makes a lot of sense to us at Running for Science. Humans are not great sprinters compared with some of the prey we will have hunted millions of years ago - antelopes and gazelles, for example. So how did we catch them? It seems that we developed an aptitude for endurance running so as to chase these animals, which typically become exhausted after a few high intensity sprints. An evolutionary version of the tortoise and the hare!

It seems, too, that our ability to run long distances actually increases with age. A study cited in Born to Run found that endurance running ability increases from age 19 to age 27, and reduces at a very slow rate thereafter - such that a 19 year old and a 64 year old share the same level of endurance. A more recent study of Hawaii Ironman performances found similar results.

Practice makes perfect

Running for Science’s Professor Alister Hart sums this up: “The longevity of good running performance makes a lot of sense in the context of the evolutionary theory. If we are anatomically designed to run long distances, then experience and practice will only improve our performance.

“People that run long distances regularly actively improve the health of their joints - as our own research has shown - which means they’re less likely to experience injury. This in turn helps keep them running and staying healthy. The more we understand about the physical impacts and benefits of running, the more we can encourage people to make the most of this natural human ability.”