You should read 'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall. He writes about the evolutionary abilities of humans to run long distances and even outrun deer to the point where the deer collapses from sheer exhaustion providing several dinners for the hunter and his family. There is some anectodal evidence in this book and also some references to research journals.
From a sheer muscular strength perspective, most mammals probably have a higher strength to weight ratio, but human cardiovascular endurance is far higher. The ability to sweat effectively and separate the organs of locomotion from the organs that facilitate breathing help with this endurance.
Originally Posted by
uluchay
I would like to check that article, if you could provide a link that'll be great.
For what I've known, human beings suck pretty much at every athletic aspect. That is why we have a developed front brain and learned how to search for shelter, make tools and weapons to turn our physical disadvantage to our favour. Dolphins for example are considered to be almost as smart as humans but their athletic ability provides them enough agility to hunt for themselves and out-swim any threat. Our intelligence and dominance is also well respected in nature as no wild animal (except polar bears) hunts humans.
I'm not saying what you are saying is wrong but I see no evolutionary advantage in being able to outrun a horse in a 100 miles race.