[RWebb]

human running performance has been known for a few decades - I used to lecture on it ot grad. & ungrad students in the 80s so it is older than that

African tribesmen used to run down cheetahs in the heat - the cheetah would dash to a shady bush (at 70 mph) and these guys would jog or lope up to and flush it out with stick or stones; then repeat until it was exhausted

later, they started using Land Drovers