Eng26 From Barefoot To Blacktop (Dis & Doc) 1

With over 600 million regular runners worldwide, running is the most popular sport on the planet. While the phenomenon of long-distance running is a growing global obsession, in East Africa it is becoming something more: a way of life, and for some, a genuine pathway to social mobility. This BBC World Service documentary follows evolutionary biologist Professor Ben Garrod as he crosses Uganda - from the training grounds of world record holders to a remote marathon in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains - to find out how running is reshaping lives and communities and to ask why humans, alone among the great apes, ever learned to run at all.

Presented by Professor Ben Garrod
Produced by Eric Mugaju
Assistant Producer Ellie Dobing
Executive Producers Rami Tzabar and Julian Mayers
A Yada-Yada Production for BBC World Service