I've noticed much discussion among the members of this forum on how best to emulate the typical exertions that were part and parcel to our ancestors lifestyle. Here is a fascinating excerpt from a book I'm reading that I thought would be of interest to some of you. The anecdote was part of an address to the National Geographic Society by Theodore Roosevelt in which he detailed much of his adventures during his Safari in Africa in 1910. He spent years collecting wildlife samples for museums and encountered rare glimpses into tribal lifestyles that until then, were virtually unknown to westerners. He spoke of a specific instance where he was allowed to follow a group of Nandi spearmen (a branch of the Masai probably as old as the dirt they walk on) on a lion hunt. He described the group of hunters as a "splendid race physically, tall and sinewy warriors". On horseback, he followed the group of men as they chased down a massive and fierce lion for 4 hours until it stopped. At this point the men would create a large circle around the beast, armed only with a hide shield and their heavy spears. Slowly, they would creep closer and closer, tightening the loop until the lion became so agitated by their encroachment, it readied for an attack. The lion would then rear and charge at what it thought was the weakest part of the chain of men. The warrior who would bear the brunt of the attack would then poise himself against the hide shell and when the charging lion was within six feet he would raise his shield and with a powerful underhand throw plunge the spear into the beast as it lunged and sunk it's claws into him. Then in a flash the hunters to the side of him assailed the beast with more spears until it reared back and died. When I read this vivid portrayal of tribal life I had to stop and think about what these hunters were doing. Running barefoot for 4 hours, then knowing that one of them, probably the one who appeared smallest, would have to bear the brunt of the lion's attack himself. Absolutely remarkable. I can see why the worlds top runners all come from Africa. Running was their weapon, their methodology. I hear a lot of negative criticism toward long distance running and how our bodies were not meant to do it. This site seems to relish counting the bodies of dead marathoners and runners and continually shrouds running in a banner of impending death. This focus is narrow and the sphere of opinion is based upon limitations by those that don't run. I keep wanting to send clippings I keep about a runner in our town named Ed Whitlock who is 73 and a multiple marathon world record holder. He still runs a sub 3 hour full Marathon, and trains by running 20k a day in the local cemetery, ironically enough. Ed is paleo man. He is the modern day Nandi warrior.
I could go on to quote the journals of yet another explorer, Cabeza de Vaca who wrote of the Texas Indians, "The men could run after a deer for an entire day without resting and without apparent fatigue. . . one man near seven feet in stature. . . runs down a buffalo on foot and slays it with his knife or lance, as he runs by its side." So for those of you that think it's all about strength, I hope I may have exacted some second thoughts. If true "Evolutionary fitness" is what your after, put down the weights and crank up the miles, lots of them. Our ancestors were ultra runners, nothing less.

This is amazing to me. Edmund Burke's books were recommended to me when I first started researching life extension. Looks like he was more a model of life extinction. I had no idea he has recently checked out like so many other endurance athletes.

This goes so against the ingrained "what everyone knows" consensus that people just refuse to process and accept the data. Who will be the last to die for this faulty premise?

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