Long-distance running, or endurance running

Long-distance running, or endurance running

Propelling_______________________________

Prehistoric running

Hunting

Anthropological observations of modern hunter-gatherer communities have provided accounts for long distance running as a method for hunting among the San of the Kalahari, American Indians, and the Australian Aboriginals. In this method, the hunter would run at a slow and steady pace between one hour and a few days, in an area where the animal has no place to hide. The animal, running in spurts, has to stop to pant in order to cool itself, but as the chase goes on it would not have enough time before it has to start running again, and after a while would collapse from exhaustion and heat.^[11] The body structure of a skeleton of a 12 years old Nariokatome boy is suggested to prove that early humans from 1.5 million years ago were eating more meat and less plants, and hunted by running down animals.

Ancient History

With developments in agriculture and culture, long distance running took more and more purposes other than hunting: religious ceremonies, delivering messages for military and political purposes, and sport.

Messengers

The Old Testament has few mentions of messengers running to deliver messages. For example, in 2 Samuel 18, two runners, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and a Cushite run to deliver King David the message of the death of his son Absalom. In Jeremia 51:31-32, two running messengers meet each other halfway to deliver the message about the loss ofBabylon:

 is a form of continuousrunning over distances of at least five kilometres (3.1 miles). Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina.

Among mammals, humans are well adapted for running significant distances, and particularly so among primates. The endurance running hypothesissuggests that running endurance in the Homo genus arose because travelling over large areas improved scavenging opportunities and allowed persistence hunting. The capacity for endurance running is also found in migratoryungulates and a limited number of terrestrial carnivores, such as dogs, wolves and hyenas.

In modern human society, long-distance running has multiple purposes: people may engage in it for physical exercise, for recreation, as a means of travel, for economic reasons, or for cultural reasons. Long distance running can also be used as a means to improve cardiovascular health. Running improves your aerobic fitness by increasing the activity of enzymes and hormones that stimulate the muscles and the heart to work more efficiently.^[5] Endurance running is often a component of physical military training and has been so historically. Professional running is most commonly found in the field of sports, although in pre-industrial times foot messengers would run to deliver information to distant locations. Long-distance running as a form of tradition or ceremony is known among the Hopi and Tarahumara people, among others.

In the sport of athletics, long-distance events are defined as races covering three kilometres (1.86 miles) and above. The three most common types aretrack running, road running and cross country running, all of which are defined by their terrain – all-weather tracks, roads and natural terrain, respectively. Typical long-distance track races range from 3000 metres to 10,000 metres(6.2 miles), cross country races usually cover 5 to 12 km (3 to 7½ miles), while road races can be significantly longer, reaching 100 kilometres (60 miles) and beyond. In college cross country races, in the United States, males run an 8000 meter race whereas the women run a 6000 meter race.

Running competitions

• The 5000 metres is a premier event that requires tactics and superior aerobic conditioning. Training for such an event may consist of a total of 60–200 kilometers (40–120 miles) a week, although training regimens vary greatly. The 5000 is often a popular entry-level race for beginning runners.
• The 10,000 metres is the longest standard track event. Most of those running such races also compete in road races and cross country running events.
• one hour run is an endurance race that is rarely contested, except in pursuit of world records. The 20,000 metres is also rarely contested, and all world records in the 20,000 metres have been set while in a one hour run race