Lance Armstrong to Run the ING New York City Marathon
Statement from Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO, NYRR; Race Director, ING New York City Marathon:
“I was thrilled to learn late last night of Lance’s decision to run the ING NYC Marathon. A bit like winning the lottery after you thought you had lost.
Lance epitomizes both the American spirit and the spirit of the marathon and it is no surprise that his drive, motivation and focus leads him to his next challenge – 26.2 miles on foot. Millions of athletes of all disciplines along with cancer survivors and their families from around the world will tune in on November 5 to cheer for Lance as he runs the five boroughs of NYC in the Tour de France of our sport – the ING NYC Marathon.
The ING New York City Marathon is a celebration of life at its finest, with tens of thousands of runners striving to overcome hurdles and achieve great personal goals, using the support of millions of spectators. Lance's example will reinforce to all the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle and the need to persevere in the face of all odds.
Lance is a born winner and has a midas touch. I can guarantee this year’s ING NYC Marathon will have a shine to it like never before with Lance in our ranks. We welcome Lance with open arms and thank him for the lift we are sure to see in an already healthy sport of marathoning and in our efforts to get people moving toward healthier and fitter lives.”
FYI, L.A running the NY Marathon
"""...the Tour de France of our sport – the ING NYC Marathon.""
Thanks for the laugh, Mary Wittenberg!"
I am a runner not a fast one mind you but a runner nonetheless. I am running in the NYC marathon. I gained my entry the good old fashioned way - I EARNED IT. One way to EARN your enty is to become a member of NYRR and run 9 races.
I understand the allure of the celebrity runners but Lance is a celebrity cyclist not a celebrity runner! I have friends that were denied entry to the NYCC marathon, one had knee surgery and missed the required number of races. Now I know this is a simplistic view but....
A NYC resident that runs in Central Park at least 3 times a week (in the correct lane I assure you) is denied entry because she missed one race. A professional cyclist decides he wants to run and he's in?
I can see if he was a professional runner.....
Personally I'd much rather run with my friend - I'm way to slow to even have a chance at seeing Lance.
Fair or not, this is a world based on economy. Lance's presence does the same thing that offering prize money does; it attracts attention. The Boston Marathon went through the issue of whether or not to offer prize money many years ago. Those who felt money would taint the event lost out to those who felt the event would lose ground to other marathons which did.
But running 9 qualifying races as a member of the NYRR is not the only way you can get in. You can run a sanctioned half or full marathon in a qualifying time for your age and sex. You can finish first in a NYRR race. You can buy a package abroad which includes an entry (how do you like that one!) You can get in by having run a certain number of NYC Marathons in the past. You can get an entry through the lottery. You can gain entry if you have applied to the lottery a certain number of times but were not picked.
There are many ways to get in. Hey, to get into Boston you have to run an actual marathon in qualifying time. Now that is equitable.
How do you feel about the NYRRC and other race organizations paying elite runners just to appear in their races? That has been happening for decades.
Or how do you feel about the thousands upon thousands of entrances reserved for non-elite runners who sign up for a tour package in say France, Italy, Japan, etc. to run in the NYC Marathon? IIRC, more foreigners (as in overseas race applicants) run the race than natives.
At least Lance will be truly running the marathon. (My pet peeve w/ celebrities running the marathon and marathon races in general). If you beat him this fall, then by all means I say you have definitely earned it and certainly have my respect. Either way, good luck!
After winning 7 TDF's and raising cancer awareness like no one ever has, Lance should be allowed to (as an honorary guest) enter any event, restaurant, stadium, concert hall, laundramat, etc. that he damn pleases. We should all be lucky enough to get near him when he does. You can hardly consider him like everyone else. His is after all the closest thing we have to a real American Hero. His mere presence (like Hank says) raises the value of the event.
Little over the top with your devotion ehh?
I have a much different definition of hero than you do. I consider fire fighters and police and doctors (to name only a few) heros, not a man that happens to ride his bike very very very well. In this instance I consider him a celebrity (no different than when P Diddy ran) if it was the NYC Bike race then by all means come on in but this is a running race.....
like I said, I'd rather be running with my friend.
While I am certainly not a member of the Lance religion, I certainly do think that through his work and efforts (albeit only because of a personal experience), Lance is more than a mere celebrity and certainly does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breadth as P Diddy. While you do not think he is a hero, everything I have ever read makes it very clear that to the cancer community, he is their hero.
"First of all, this is not about making comparisons to other ""heros"". In fact, I fully agree with your examples of a hero(Which I would include: Teachers, Medical researchers and Nurses in that group) But to merely consider him just a bike rider is a bit rediculous. I would be willing to bet that a good many of our club members would site LA as someone who has positively affected their lives with his story. And heck, how many sporting Icons do we really have. Muhammud Ali(if he was healthy), Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky are all welcome to run the NYC Marathon if they wanted to. Devotion? no. Admiration, yes......"
I am not saying Lance should not be allowed to run, or that he should be but you make a good point. And there is a certain unfairness to it all. But alas, our culture is obsessed with the new royalty - celebrity - and marketing has taken over everything.
Some would go so far as to declare that not only is he a hero, but that we should be lucky just to be near him (yes I do not make this up). So instead of wondering about fairness, get back in your place you lowly plebe and be thankful that you are allowed to even worship your superiors.
i believe there are more charity entries this year than ever before.
Let's hope that they screen his urine.
Don't you think?
A marathon is like a stroll in the park for him, right?
And if he's training in the heat of Austin, he'll be really tough mentally. Ready for anything, flying. It's a flat course except for bridge inclines, which are short and few.
Lance throws his entire being into everything he does. You know damn well he would not enter that marathon unless he plans to perform. The man does not do anything half-assed.... that's for sure. You have to admire that.
~CML
Not to mention he started out as a triathlet before he became a dedicated cyclist.
Actually New york is not a flat marathon it is genreally considered one of the toughest of the big banner events, in general people run significantly slower times because of the number of hills and the difficulty of the course.
Check out http://www.canoe.ca/StatsRAT/BC-RAT-LGNS-BESTMRTHNS-R.html the New York marathond oes not show up at all in the top 15 fastest Marathons all time for Men or Women.
In my book anyone who runs a marathon is a hero, regardless of what they did before it. And even more so if they are doing it as both a personal challenge and to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes. As to earlier posts about the new hero worship being celebrity based... well it's better than the original hero worship, you know, the warriors that killed the most people, and it's not like royalty or politicians are really giving us that much inspiration these days.
We should take inspiration and motivation in what ever form is appears, personally its shows up everywhere, from the obese person I see running in the park to, the people running the NYCC SiG to Lance to my Granddad... the biggest crime we can commit in this area is to be so closed off and ignorant as to not be inspired by anyone or anything.
So good on Lance for running the NY marathon, he'll probably do a reasonable time which means some people will say he sucks at running, thats good, we need people to be controversial and make us care enough to get off our arses and do something.
