Perfect Runner

Synopsis

How did our ancestors survive the shift from trees to land? How did Homo sapiens evolve to dominate the planet? How did our ancestors hunt before they developed weapons?

You’ll be amazed to learn, the answer lies in a remarkable ability we evolved far earlier than our powerful brains. Humans are nature’s perfect endurance runners, and our ancestors could outrun all the animals in their environment.

“Whether you’re a fan of running or just a lover of adventure, Niobe Thompson’s remarkable documentary takes you all over the world to explore mankind’s perfect stride. Not to be missed.”

National Post

The Perfect Runner celebrates the modern love of long-distance running by exploring our evolutionary past as a species defined by its ability to run. Cambridge anthropologist and Gemini-winning host Niobe Thompson takes a journey of personal discovery back in evolutionary time, learning from the world’s leading evolutionary biologists and immersed in distant cultures whose survival still depends on endurance running. From Africa’s Great Rift Valley to the highlands of Ethiopia, from the most remote place in Arctic Siberia to one of the world’s toughest ultramarathons in the Canadian Rockies, this documentary weaves cutting-edge science with gripping adventure, and asks what today’s runners can learn from our evolutionary past.

“Breathtaking scenes…captures the essence of how our ancestors became runners when it was purely a survival skill"

Canadian Running

Finally understand the science and sport of barefoot running. A visual feast in full HD, from the makers of the double-Gemini winner Code Breakers (2011), and Inuit Odyssey (2009), Best Science Documentary at the Banff World Television Awards.

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