Charles,
I was aware of the log(T1/T2) relationship, but it was not until I fiddled with my data and those of better runners that I saw how well it matched the running data. My interest then spread to other endurance sports and culminated in the American Scientist article. It's satisfying to see that I am still getting inquiries about that three-decades-old paper..
As for originality of concept, conclude what you wish. I make no claim to being first, but I am not aware that anybody beat me to it. I certainly was not the first to attempt to quantify athletics, but I have seen no other formulae as simple as what I proposed. The price of simplicity, of course, is the necessity to limit the use of the formula to the mile-to-marathon range, thus shutting out the sprints.
Best, Pete