In this corner… seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong… and in this corner… one of the most prestigious running events in the world—the New York City Marathon. Ding. Ding. Let the games begin. Okay, I’m sure the start of the race won’t include a public introduction of Armstrong tomorrow, but it is his first race (without a bike) since winning his seventh Tour victory more than a year ago.
Armstrong is certainly not the first celebrity to take part in the 26.2-mile race (and he certainly won’t be the last). In fact, the world-renown cyclist will getting a little help from an all-star cast of distance runners past and present when he makes his marathon debut Sunday. Similar to when he relied on the support of his teammates during his treks through the French Alps, Armstrong will be paced by former marathon champions Alberto Salazar (the last American winner of the New York City Marathon, way back in 1982) and Joan Benoit Samuelson, as well as reigning Olympic 1,500- and 5,000-meter gold medalist Hicham El Guerrouj, in the New York race.
According to news reports, Salazar, will run the first 10 miles of the race with Armstrong. Forty-nine-year-old Samuelson, who won the first Olympic women’s marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, will run the next 10. Then, El Guerrouj will accompany Armstrong on the next 6 miles with Armstrong. Finally, the famous biker will complete the last two-tenths of a mile on his own.
Armstrong told reporters that the three would try to keep him at a 7-minute-per-mile pace so that he can accomplish his goal of finishing the race in less than three hours. Lest you think Armstrong is undertaking the task for name recognition think again. He will be running in large part to raise awareness and money for cancer research.
I think that is great—very admirable. However, as a marathon runner myself, there was one comment Armstrong made to reporters yesterday that made me wince. Armstrong revealed that even though it is his first time competing in a marathon he’s decided to take a casual approach to his preparations.
“I’ve been training some, but I wouldn’t call it serious,” he told reporters. “It’s just something to fill a void in my life after I quit competing as a professional cyclist.”
Geez. I realize that Armstrong is an incredible professional athlete and has accomplished things that put him in the realm of “super human,” but I don’t know anyone who has completed a sub three-hour marathon without “seriously” training for it (I guess “serious” could be a relative term). And his comment about filling “a void”… my word, when I prepared for all four of my marathons—training was my life. But, like I said Armstrong is in a league of his own. I can’t wait to see how he does. And, what’s more, I hope his participation ups the star wattage of the race—maybe some of Armstrong’s celebrity pals turned training partners, Matthew McConaughey and Jake Gyllenhaal will show up to cheer from the sidelines. I kind of doubt Sheryl Crow will be doing so.
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