Dirt or Pavement?

I was running yesterday next to a guy about my age who was running about the same speed as me. As we ran down the hill to the river bike path, he chose to run on the pavement while I chose to run on the dirt path next to the pavement. It got me thinking about why I chose the dirt, and I thought this would be a nice share on the values of classical PE training and how I was mentored and coached by men who knew classical running form.