I responded by parodying their parody, passing them with my head back, tongue out, and arms flailing like Emil Zatopek. They laughed, and then I really got up on my toes and tried to pull away. It worked for a while, I think because they let me, but then they whipped past me again. Once they opened a gap of nearly 100 meters, though, they simply stopped at the edge of the village. They were shuffling around, doing some strides and some stretching, and then we walked back to their doorstep together.
Turnover is very important.
Each of them took five steps to my four, and if our stride lengths were equal, they could run 5 kilometers in the time it would take me to run 4. 2. Pace is important, not necessarily a steady pace, but rather a variable pace. I later asked Dr. Rosa about this. His response wasn't very specific. He said he encouraged the uneven pace, but also noted that the Kenyans naturally run that way.