Dwarf all the way - I am already stout and kinda short (5'6 1/2") and i love hammers and axes (chopped alot of wood as a kid I don't like trees ) The extra life would be nice, and i'd love to live in Middle Earth. Not in a traditional, underground place though - I'd travel from Minas Tirith to the Shire and back again
Nah. Read it years ago . The movie was great fun and the centaurs were accomplished spectacularly, so they were a high point, but this isn't a sudden thought for me.
I think the basic question here is what would be the most fun/enjoyable, and sheer power or immortality is not my guiding light in this matter. A bit of personal speed, size, and the prospect of startling the hell out of a jaded world is far more interesting that something that blends in . Then again, I tend to think of centaurs more in the eternal sage Chiron mold, than D&D's semi-barbaric ones. By that standard, it might come with immortality after all !