The Perfect Runner

Definitely recommended to the fans of anthropology, the environmental physiologists, the sports scientists, the endurance or the casual runners , “The Perfect Runner”  (http://www.theperfectrunner.com/) takes us on the steps of human evolution and the heritage of our ancestors, capable of running long distance in the heat (with good thermoregulation) to capture hyperthermic and fatigued animals.

The Perfect Runner, Official Trailer from Niobe Thompson on Vimeo.

Directed by Niobe Thompson, the film cracks open the modern-day sport of endurance running by exploring our evolutionary past as a species formed and defined by long-distance running adaptations. New archaeological research into the physiology of early hominids and a deeper understanding of climate conditions at critical points in our evolution are now revealing that two critical adaptations occurred simultaneously to produce modern Homo sapiens. The first was the transformation between 3 and 2 millions years ago of the tree-climbing body of our Australopithecus predecessors into the bipedal body we possess today. The second was the development of the large Homo brain, and the reasoning and language abilities it enabled. The order and cause of these changes have spurred debate for decades, but now some scientists are arguing neither would have been possible without a critical third adaptation, namely a supreme advantage over other animals bestowed by our ability to run long distances.

Anthropologist and host Niobe Thompson begins his journey with the “barefoot professor”, the Harvard scientist who sparked the barefoot running boom with his theory that humans are “born to run”. In a visually stunning exploration of the human body and our apelike ancestors, we learn how Homo sapiens survived in a changing African environment – a world teeming with predators. Unique footage of the only “persistence hunt” ever filmed helps unlock the mystery of why humans made a series of paradoxical trade-offs as they evolved, losing strength and natural defenses as they became hairless bipeds on the scorched African plain.

But as Homo sapiens left Africa and adapted to the cold, did humans lose the running body? To answer this question, Niobe travels to the most remote part of Arctic Russia, a place where running is still a way of life. A runner himself, it’s all he can do to keep up with nomadic reindeer herders during the autumn roundup. A herder’s life is constant movement – these are cowboys without horses, running alongside their reindeer over the ankle-breaking tundra. So what makes humans on every continent and in every climate such exceptional distance runners? Back in Harvard, the barefoot professor shows us how the human body is loaded with specialized running features.

A question many viewers will be asking is, “If humans are such natural runners, why does it hurt to run?” Decades of research to build the perfect running shoe may have created a multibillion-dollar industry, but running injuries are now more common than ever.  Niobe travels to the kingdom of distance runners in Africa and makes an astonishing link – the runners raised in rural poverty without running shoes become the fastest athletes. In an explosive revelation, newly published research shows why.  In the Harvard lab, Niobe learns that modern running shoes could be contributing to running injuries.

The Perfect Runner, behind the scenes in Extreme Slow Motion from Niobe Thompson on Vimeo.

If humans evolved as nature’s finest distance runners, can we still run like our ancestors? To answer this question, Niobe makes his own body the laboratory and takes on one of the world’s most grueling physical challenges: a mountain ultramarathon, the 125-km Canadian Death Race. In an emotionally charged and harshly beautiful final act, we learn the true limits of human strength. Some among us are built to achieve the unimaginable.

A documentary that travels the planet and goes back in time to deliver a revelation we can’t afford to ignore: humans are the perfect runner.

A must watch!

Damien Fournet

R&D Engineer - Oxylane (Decathlon)

PhD Researcher

Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre

Loughborough University