Elves don't seem to be native to Osirion in any significant numbers. Are they more storied populations in any of the other dessert areas of Golarion that would be more appropriate for a Desert Runner Elf?
Some elves thrive in the deepest deserts, forever roaming across burned and parched lands. Elves with this racial trait receive a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue, exhaustion, or ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, or hot or cold environments. This racial trait replaces Elven Magic.
The Desert Runner Elf racial trait is from the setting-neutral hardcover rulebooks (APG and ARG), and as such is not necessarily representative of any specific population of desert-dwelling elves on Golarion - as least as far as we know for now.* Most elves in the hot desert regions seem to be "imports" from the Mwangi Expanse or from further afield (e.g., Avistan).
Personallly, I think that the Desert Runner option was put in those books to satisfy those players/GMs who want to create/home-brew Pathfinderised elves who live under a "blood-Red Sun" or live in a desert on a world where "elves Quest".
... Which isn't to say that an individual elf on Golarion can't have that racial trait (fill in your preferred explanation here).
* One could argue that the arctic-dwelling Snowcaster elves could make use of the Desert Runner Elf racial trait. After all, deserts are not only found in warm regions. But it would be extremely odd to find a Snowcaster in Osirion, as they tend to be slightly xenophobic homebodies. (See People of the North for details.)
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Apparently they talk about Desert Elves in 'Elves of Golarion' as well as in 'People of the Sands':
Desert elves: The desert elves of Osirion possess tanned skin. They are descended from wild elves of the Mwangi Expanse, and settle near Osirion's fertile river valleys or oases.
What Blackfoot said. As we know there are Mwangi elves, it is more than likely that any Golarion desert elves originated there, and would be more abundant around the outskirts of the Mwangi expanse.
Personally, I think it would be cool to have a group of desert elves that aren't nomadic wanderers of the sand dune deserts, but who retain the more flora-oriented nature of their forest and jungle dwelling kin, but have adapted them to more lush expanses of semi-arid and/or coastal deserts. Certainly, even arid deserts are probably better suited to elves (with their affinity to nature and plant life) than most other races.
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* One could argue that the arctic-dwelling Snowcaster elves could make use of the Desert Runner Elf racial trait. After all, deserts are not only found in warm regions. But it would be extremely odd to find a Snowcaster in Osirion, as they tend to be slightly xenophobic homebodies. (See People of the North for details.)
People of the North, which details snowcaster elves, has nothing to say on the matter one way or the other. But the Advanced Race Guide does say that "Arctic Elves" have "the Darkvision, Desert Runner, and Elemental Resistance racial traits."
As for the descent of elvendom, the pedigree looks something like this:
The original population split into Castrovel and Golarion branches, centered on Sovyrian and Kyonin respectively. The Castrovel branch stayed mostly confined to Sovyrian. Before and during the Age of Legend, the Golarion branch spread over Avistan, Casmaron, and Garund, creating colonies in Varisia (including Celwynvian and the Mordant Spire), the Crown of the World, and the Mwangi Expanse. Before Earthfall, elves from all over Golarion retreated to Kyonin and thence to Sovyrian, but some stayed behind in every area. Those who remained in Kyonin were mostly killed by Treerazer. Those who remained in the Mordant Spire, Crown of the World, and Mwangi Expanse more or less weathered the catastrophe, though some of the Mwangi did migrate north. Those who remained in Celwynvian fled into the Darklands, and either emerged on the other side of the world in what would become Jinin, or transformed into drow and built Zirnakaynin.