Lance Armstrong
“It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done,” said Armstrong, after he completed the 26.2-mile course, just 24 seconds under his goal of three hours. “Even after experiencing one of the hardest days of the Tour nothing has ever left me feeling this bad,” he said at a post-race news conference.
“Before the race that was my goal, I wanted to break three hours. But, honestly, at the end I was so tired, I couldn’t care. I don’t know how these guys do it.”
Armstrong was accompanied for the first half of the race by Alberto Salazar, 49, who won three consecutive New York City Marathons in 1980, 1981, and 1982.
“Cardiovascularly he was fine,” said Salazar, who was there to help pace Armstrong in his goal. “He could speak sometimes better than I could while we were running. But I knew that the challenge for him would be the pounding on his legs.”
Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, paced Armstrong for the last 16 miles of his marathon. “In the last few miles, I had to keep the reins on him and just remind him to loosen up his arms and stretch them every once in a while.”
Armstrong wore the number 10/2 across the front of his running shirt, the date he received his diagnosis of cancer in 1996. His struggle to overcome the disease and go on to win seven Tours de France has been an inspiration to many who have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which funds cancer research, raised about $600,000 at this year’s ING New York City Marathon.
Sunday’s event included a field of 37,999 runners from around the world, and more than 2 million cheering fans lined the route which starts on Staten Island, crosses five buroughs of Brooklyn, and ends on Manhattan Island in Central Park.
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won this year’s men’s division in 2:09:58; Jelena Prokocaka of Latvia was the fastest woman, with a time of 2:25:05. The New York City Marathon record is under 2:09. Paul Tergat, who finished third this year, holds the world marathon record with 2:04:50 clocked in Berlin, in 2003.