Humans have always run to help each other. Two million years ago we ran to hunt and provision each other with sustaining food; today we run to raise funds for charities, to promote fitness, and to build community. It really is true that we run to make the world a better place.

Please join Team Leakey and run with us to raise money for scientific research and outreach.

About The Leakey Foundation:

The Leakey Foundation advances human origins research and offers educational opportunities that cultivate a deeper, collective understanding of what it means to be human. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in San Francisco.

We provide venture capital for scientists through research grants and share their groundbreaking discoveries through our storytelling podcast, dynamic website and engaging lecture programs. We also provide scholarships for students from developing countries to complete their Masters degrees or PhD’s, or learn how to conduct scientific fieldwork.

Join Team Leakey:

Run with our Team Leakey Scholars to learn the how what and why of endurance running, all while raising money for a great cause!

Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Edwin M Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences and Chair, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Dr. Ian Wallace, Harvard University

Benefits of joining Team Leakey:

Official entry in the 2016 San Francisco Marathon held on July 31, 2016
Personalized training advice provided by Daniel Lieberman and Ian Wallace of Harvard University.
Two free tickets to Being Human: Evolved to Run with Daniel Lieberman at Public Works on Thursday, July 28, at 7:00 pm
Listed as an official runner on the Team Leakey Webpage
Invitation to join the Team Leakey San Francisco Marathon Facebook group

Fundraising Goal: $400 per person (as required by The San Francisco Marathon)

A generous donor has agreed to match all funds raised, so your contributions will be doubled!

For the team member who raises the most money, Dr. Daniel Lieberman will offer a comprehensive, individualized one-day running clinic and gait analysis for up to four people in his lab at Harvard University*. This offer includes:

Lessons in the basics of traditional running form that should help you avoid injury, increase your speed, and have more fun
Drills to help you improve your running skills
High-speed video and 3-D kinematic analysis of your running form
Respirometry measurement of your running economy (VO2)
Biomechanical analysis of your ground reaction forces
A run along the Charles River of whatever distance you desire (up to 26.2 miles)
Follow-up consultations and coaching for six months by email, phone, Skype, or in person (if convenient)

*Trip to/from Cambridge, MA and accommodations are not included. The visit must be arranged with Dr. Lieberman.

Why should you join Team Leakey?

100% of the funds raised by Team Leakey members will be used to fund scholarships for students to attend field schools in Africa.

Under the tutelage of leaders in the respective disciplines, students will learn hands-on techniques in archaeology, paleoanthropology and primatology in these scientifically resource-rich areas of the world. By enabling bright young scholars to partake in field schools, The Leakey Foundation equips these women and men to assume leadership roles in prehistory research and conservation in the future.

The cost to send a student to field school is not great, but the impact is priceless.

Dr. John Kappelman from the University of Texas-Austin, who runs a field school in Ethiopia, had this to say about the importance of offering these opportunities.

“For the majority of African students, the history of the evolution of our species remains something limited to the pages of a textbook or a website. It isn’t until they are actually able to see and handle and help recover this record that it comes alive for them. As one of our students told us, “I never ever thought that I would ever have the opportunity to go to the field – it is my dream come true.” The support of the Leakey Foundation is critical for both bringing these dreams to reality and building the foundation for our science in the years to come."

Suggested Articles & Links:

Video with Daniel Lieberman from The Colbert Report

http://www.colbertnewshub.com/2013/05/17/16-2013/

Video Human Mammal, Human Hunter - Attenborough - Life of Mammals - BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE

http://www.runnersworld.com/rt-web-exclusive/daniel-lieberman-10-years-after-born-to-run

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/science/23conversation.html?_r=0

The Leakey Foundation

You were not only born to run…you have also evolved to run! Join Team Leakey to raise money for scientific research and outreach while learning why humans are supremely adapted long distance runners. Don’t walk, run to sign up for Team Leakey!

Fundraising Campaigns

Team Leakey