Humans Can Out-Endure Horses in 22-Mile Heat Races, Lieberman Argues

1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 5

Harvard physiologist Daniel Lieberman says humans can beat horses over long distances in extreme heat because continuous sweating lets people shed heat while still moving.
55-to-70-kph horse speed still dominates sprints, but a horse’s larger body and stride-linked breathing make it harder to cool during prolonged galloping than an upright human runner.
22-mile Man versus Horse races in Wales usually favor horses, yet humans have won outright in especially hot, hard years, matching the physiology Lieberman describes.
20-to-40-km persistence hunts documented among groups including the San underpin the broader idea that human anatomy evolved for endurance running, though critics say such hunting was too rare to drive evolution alone.

Sources

If we weren't born to hunt, why did evolution shape humans into the ultimate endurance athletes?

Can a simple sauna session unlock our evolutionary superpower to outrun a horse?

As global temperatures rise, is our unique ability to sweat our most important survival trait?

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