The evolution of marathon running: capabilities in humans
Two pages on PainSci cite Lieberman 2007: 1. Is Running on Pavement Risky? 2. Does barefoot running prevent injuries?
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Humans have exceptional capabilities to run long distances in hot, arid conditions. These abilities, unique among primates and rare among mammals, derive from a suite of specialised features that permit running humans to store and release energy effectively in the lower limb, help keep the body's center of mass stable and overcome the thermoregulatory challenges of long distance running. Human endurance running performance capabilities compare favourably with those of other mammals and probably emerged sometime around 2 million years ago in order to help meat-eating hominids compete with other carnivores.
related content
- “Endurance running and the evolution of Homo,” Bramble et al, Nature, 2004.
- Born to run: a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen (book), by Christopher McDougall. Amazon.com ❐
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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- Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung 2024 JAMA Netw Open.
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