Well, it's rider on a horse. Would be fair if the human runner also carried another human on their shoulders.
Besides, ancient horses were much smaller and couldn't carry a rider, hence chariots. I would like to speculate that smaller means better thermoregulation, so smaller horses fared better on long distances versus Homo genus.
with carbohydrate gels, fancy shoes and years of training on the asphalt and a bunch of servants throwing you motivational words and ice water bottles?
