Lance Armstrong @ NY Marathon

[BoonesFarmSooner]

Lance Armstrong meets goal in marathon debut
Brazilian claims N.Y. Marathon


Associated Press

Complete coverage of NYC Marathon NEW YORK -- The men's and women's champions long since had crossed the finish line when the Central Park crowds finally started to buzz. Lance Armstrong was coming.
The seven-time Tour de France winner made an impressive marathon debut Sunday, barely breaking his goal of 3 hours thanks to a finishing kick reminiscent of his storied rides through the Alps. But it came at a price.

``That was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done,'' said Armstrong, who finished 856th in the New York City Marathon. ``It was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness.

``I didn't train enough for a marathon,'' he said, his right shin heavily taped as he shuffled into a post-race news conference. ``In 20 years of pro sports and endurance sports, even the worst days on the Tour, nothing felt like that or left me the way I feel now.''

Brazil's Marilson Gomes dos Santos finished strong to stun the favored Africans in the real race, ending their decade-long hold on the men's title. Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka ran away from the women's field to win her second straight title, and wondered why no one challenged her.

It was another day of disappointment for American marathoners, who have not won here since 1982.

Armstrong crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds. The seven-time Tour de France champion struggled at times, but found the energy to meet the challenge. He was battling shin splints and had never before run longer than 16 miles.

His face tightened in pain, Armstrong virtually walked the last couple of steps. Then he slowed to a halt immediately after the finish line and bent to the ground. His green shirt was soaked with sweat.

``I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier,'' he said. ``(My shins) started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. I could barely walk up here, because the calves are completely knotted up.''

Gomes held off an all-star field of challengers to finish in 2:09:58 and become the first South American to win the race, man or woman.

In the final mile, as the race headed back into Central Park, Gomes surrendered about half the 30-second margin he had built over two Kenyans. He glanced over his shoulder several times, at one point doing a double-take when he saw a figure right behind him. But it was a woman runner, who had started a half-hour before the men.

``It wasn't a surprise, to win a marathon you have to have courage and today I had courage,'' Gomes said through an interpreter. ``I pushed the pace to get less people in the (lead) group. I kept pushing and they kept staying behind.''

It certainly was a surprise to defending champion Paul Tergat, who acknowledged later he didn't know much about Gomes. He and Kenyan compatriot Stephen Kiogora worked together to push Gomes at the end, but ran out of room. Kiogora was second in 2:10:06, while Tergat was third.

Kenyan men also took the fourth, fifth and seventh spots, with Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy in sixth.

It was the first time in 10 years an African man hadn't won the race.

``Gomes, I did not know exactly who he was. When he decided to break, I think for some reason nobody wanted to move. We waited to see who else was going to move,'' Tergat said. ``The guy was motivated. To try to close at the last stages, it was too late.''

The top American was Peter Gilmore, who finished 10th in 2:13:13. U.S. runner Dathan Ritzenhein, making his marathon debut, was 11th in 2:14:01. Meb Keflezighi, who was third and second the last two years, finished 21st while battling a case of food poisoning.

The women's race became little more than a coronation after Prokopcuka made her bold move away from the lead pack, crushing the hopes of Deena Kastor, the world's top-ranked marathoner, who was favored to become the first American woman to win the race in nearly three decades.

Prokopcuka led nearly from start to finish on a perfect day for a marathon - cool, cloudy and little wind. Kastor finished sixth in 2:27:54. Prokopcuka became the first woman to win two straight titles since Tegla Loroupe of Kenya in 1994-95.

A record 38,368 runners started the race. Along with Armstrong, several celebrities finished the race, including mountain climber Ed Viesturs (3:15:25), former Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller (4:17:47), model Kim Alexis (4:39:49) and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (5:33:43).

The U.S. drought grew by another year. No American has won the New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982, and no woman has won here since 1977. Until 1977, every New York race by won by an American man and woman.

``We will be competitive again,'' said Salazar, who helped pace Armstrong during the race, ``but it's unrealistic to think we will ever dominate marathoning again.''





856

[Xstnlsooner]

Some dismal effort huh!! Never ran a marathon before and
could barely break three hours...

What a wimp!

[OhU1]

Armstrong broke 3 hours in his first marathon. A hell of an achievement, if somewhat wimpy. :)

[sanantoniosooner]

The seven-time Tour de France winner made an impressive marathon debut Sunday, barely breaking his goal of 3 hours thanks to a finishing kick reminiscent of his storied rides through the Alps. But it came at a price.

I swear I thought it said steroid at first.

[BoonesFarmSooner]

So, running 26 miles is more difficult than pedaling a 10 speed???

[The Maestro]

Boones, remember when we used to ride bikes? I once did to TG&Y and got a paddle ball. Good times, good times.

Let the hype be OVER about the greatness of Lance and the Tour...obviously, a few barefoot Kenyans could pedal their way around France as well, too!

[49r]

2:09:58!!!

Holy cark! Some days I can't get out of bed that fast...

[Soonerchaz]

And according to Lance...he didn't properly train for the marathon. His longest training run was 16 miles. Most training programs...at a bare minimum...suggest two 20+ mile runs.

Regardless...an impressive achievement. Wonder what he could do if he properly trained?

[XingTheRubicon]

I wouldn't bag on anyone who ran a sub 3 hour marathon. That's true pain. I ran the 2000 Whiterock marathon in Dallas in just over 4 hours and thought I was at deaths door.

I didn't train half as much as I should have, either. My longest run in training was 10 miles. 26.2 was full fledged murder, the hill on mile 19 didn't help either.

[NormanPride]

Running = a lot more stress on the body than cycling, right? Maybe that's what it is?

[BigRedJed]

My boy bigredsooner has run the OKC Memorial every year since its inception and run the NY Marathon once, maybe three years ago. In talking to him about the training, I'm almost amazed that Armstrong was able to even finish without ever doing 20 during his training.

Apparently if you're a regular runner and pretty fit, anything under 20 is generally fairly doable. Maybe not cake, but it doesn't take a huge toll on you. Twenty is the universally accepted point where everything starts to go south. Your body stars feeding on itself, your nipples start bleeding, you can lose control of your bowels, all sorts of crazy stuff. My understanding is that not running at least a couple of 20 milers in preparation for a marathon is a recipe for disaster. Granted, Armstrong has freakish cardio ability, but running is quite a bit different from biking.

I do think, that while it's amazing that he ran sub-3, Armstrong probably would never be world-class in that sport. I really did get tired of all of the talk about him being the best athlete, ever, in any sport. He was obviously an amazingly dominant athlete in his own, specialized sport, and I doubt any marathoners would have switched right over to biking and been competetive with him. But Armstrong the best athlete ever? Nope.

[Howzit]

2:09:58!!!

Holy cark! Some days I can't get out of bed that fast...

It was 2:59:58. 2:09 would be in the world-record realm, but it is still an unbelieveable feat.

Jed is exactly right on the 20 mile milestone. They say the marthon is made of two halves - the first 20 miles and the last 6.2. For me the mark was actually more like 18, I can train and be fine for long runs up to that point, pushing beyond is where it becomes really tough.

I believe Lance still holds some triathlon age-group records in the Dallas areas from when he was 16 y/o or so.

[Howzit]

Running = a lot more stress on the body than cycling, right? Maybe that's what it is?

Different kinds of stress. Certainly it is more stressful on the joints and probably overall body. However, there ain't one of those top NY marathoners that could finish the Tour de France.

[lexsooner]

Armstrong is superhuman. Breaking three hours in his first marathon after not having seriously trained for it is nothing short of amazing. If I am correct, his time was something like 20 minutes faster than the qualifying time for his age group for the Boston marathon. 856th place in the NY marathon, but out of more than 38,000 runners.

Does anyone remember those one mile run fitness tests they did in school where you had to train to run it in under seven minutes? Imagine breaking seven minutes for one mile, a decent clip, and then repeating the same pace for the next 25 miles without stopping. That is what Armstrong did in NYC. And he was about fifty minutes behind the winner.

I will humbly treasure my 5:09 effort, my first and possibly last full marathon effort. If I do another one, I have to get a training partner. I will stick to half marathons for a while, probably the Indy 500 next May where we get to run around the speedway. The Derby half in Louisville is getting old - we got to run on the infield of Churchill Downs this year.

Has anyone ever done the Indy 500 half or full marathon?

[49r]

It was 2:59:58. 2:09 would be in the world-record realm, but it is still an unbelieveable feat.

Jed is exactly right on the 20 mile milestone. They say the marthon is made of two halves - the first 20 miles and the last 6.2. For me the mark was actually more like 18, I can train and be fine for long runs up to that point, pushing beyond is where it becomes really tough.

I believe Lance still holds some triathlon age-group records in the Dallas areas from when he was 16 y/o or so.

I was talking about the winning time.


Gomes held off an all-star field of challengers to finish in 2:09:58 and become the first South American to win the race, man or woman.

But it's a challenge some days for me to get out of bed in even 3 hours. Armstrong deserves major 'spek. Hell Puff Daddy trained like a dog for the '03 NYC marathon and I believe his time was well over 5 hours.

[49r]

...and by "trained like a dog", I mean "supposedly gave up sex for over a week". :rolleyes:

[The Maestro]

The point of Boones thread? Enough with Lance riding a bike and people acting like he was the greatest physical specimen of all time. He was riding a freaking bike...like Boones did to get a slurpie when he was 8.

[SoonerInDC]

Has anyone ever done the Indy 500 half or full marathon?

My dad ran the Indy 1/2 once or twice. He said it was very crowded, and that the course wasn't very interesting except for the part where you get to run around the track. On the plus side, he came home with a pretty nice shirt and medal.

I think it is funny that Armstrong decided to run a marathon after his ex-wife started running them and writing about her experiences in Runners World. His actions seem to me to shout "hey, I can do it too." My husband did the same thing to me and it was pretty annoying.

[Boarder]

There was an article in one running magazine about Lance where different people predicted his time. I need to find it.

They compared him to one of those African dudes. African Dude' strides were "effortless", Armstrong's were "Powerful" or something. It was cool.

Maybe a couple of years and I'll do a marathon. That's the goal. I plan on doing the 1/2 at the Memorial this year. We'll see.

[BoonesFarmSooner]

The point of Boones thread? Enough with Lance riding a bike and people acting like he was the greatest physical specimen of all time. He was riding a freaking bike...like Boones did to get a slurpie when he was 8.


Thanks Maestro, glad someone got it.

All the talk the past few years about how incredibly difficult it was to train and compete in the frenchies bike race, and how incredible of an athlete he was... I found it interesting that he admitted how difficult it was to run a marathon.

I can't run 26 miles and not even interested in trying, but if Lance wanted to play a little pick-up basketball game - I'm down!

BTW, Maestro - I've got a Pedro Guerrero baseball collectors coin from the bottom of one of those slurpees. Whats up?

[Howzit]

I can't run 26 miles and not even interested in trying, but if Lance wanted to play a little pick-up basketball game - I'm down!



I bet I can swim farther than you.

[The Maestro]

Thanks Maestro, glad someone got it.

All the talk the past few years about how incredibly difficult it was to train and compete in the frenchies bike race, and how incredible of an athlete he was... I found it interesting that he admitted how difficult it was to run a marathon.

I can't run 26 miles and not even interested in trying, but if Lance wanted to play a little pick-up basketball game - I'm down!

BTW, Maestro - I've got a Pedro Guerrero baseball collectors coin from the bottom of one of those slurpees. Whats up?

Oh, yeah? I've got Sixto Lescano, Biff Pocaroba and Carney Lansford...BAM!

[dolemitesooner]

I ran up one flight of stairs today at work....I didnt train a how lot but I think I did ok

[dolemitesooner]

Thanks Maestro, glad someone got it.

All the talk the past few years about how incredibly difficult it was to train and compete in the frenchies bike race, and how incredible of an athlete he was... I found it interesting that he admitted how difficult it was to run a marathon.

I can't run 26 miles and not even interested in trying, but if Lance wanted to play a little pick-up basketball game - I'm down!

BTW, Maestro - I've got a Pedro Guerrero baseball collectors coin from the bottom of one of those slurpees. Whats up?
when you wanna ball beoncye?

[Howzit]

when you wanna ball beoncye?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!A

[dolemitesooner]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!A:mad: :P

[XingTheRubicon]

You guys realize that Michael Jordan in his prime could keep up with Lance on a bike for about 15 minutes, right? Before he puked his guts out. Lance's lung capacity, and his heart's ability to pump blood, was closer to that of a horse than a human.

[Mjcpr]

You guys realize that Micheal Jordan in his prime could keep up with Lance on a bike for about 15 minutes, right? Before he puked his guts out. Lance's lung capacity, and his heart's ability to pump blood, was closer to that of a horse than a human.

Sheryl?

[Beef]

I'm just now able to keep an 11:30 mile pace on the treadmill for 2 miles. I can't fathom running a marathon. Then again, I couldn't walk a mile 4 months ago without being completely fatigued.

[dolemitesooner]

You guys realize that Micheal Jordan in his prime could keep up with Lance on a bike for about 15 minutes, right? Before he puked his guts out. Lance's lung capacity, and his heart's ability to pump blood, was closer to that of a horse than a human.
I could ball on jordan right now

[BoonesFarmSooner]

endurance does not equate to athleticism

[XingTheRubicon]

endurance does not equate to athleticism

uh, ok.

Endurance.....ya mean like in the 4th quarter, or the 5th set.

The same thing lance has, MJ had and most other prime-time athletes have.

Guts.


I suggest some of you might want to try to ride a bike for 100 miles at 90% max and let me know how you feel. The average finely tuned athlete will puke at about 10 miles at this pace. It's been tested on stationary bikes and Lance was deemed a freak of nature by the numbers.



One of my favorite sports quotes of all time was from the book "Without Limits" about Steve Prefontaine just before the start of the 5000 meter (3mile) at the 1972 Olympics. One of the announcers said "These men are about to endure 13 minutes of pain that only they know."

Just because it's not a dunk from the free throw line, doesn't mean it's not athletic.

[Howzit]

endurance does not equate to athleticism

Ok, now you're just makin' **** up.

[XingTheRubicon]

I'm just now able to keep an 11:30 mile pace on the treadmill for 2 miles. I can't fathom running a marathon. Then again, I couldn't walk a mile 4 months ago without being completely fatigued.


That's awesome, Beef. I bet you are starting to feel quite a bit different than what you were used to. I wish I could get my brother to run with me again, he can't even walk a mile right now without losing his breath.

[picasso]

Armstrong is a stud and a freak of nature. he may suck at golf and Dolemite might be able to beat him in HORSE but they guy is still All World.

[dolemitesooner]

Armstrong is a stud and a freak of nature. he may suck at golf and Dolemite might be able to beat him in HORSE but they guy is still All World.
Yeah he is a ****ing stud

[Howzit]

Hey doleo, you gunna ball bri?

[SoonerInKCMO]

Did y'all hear about that Dean Karnazes dude? Ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. His 50th was this same NYC marathon that Armstrong ran in... he finished it in 3:00:30. Talk about freak of nature.

[royalfan5]

Did y'all hear about that Dean Karnazes dude? Ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. His 50th was this same NYC marathon that Armstrong ran in... he finished it in 3:00:30. Talk about freak of nature.
They did an article on him in the Lincoln Paper when he ran in the Lincoln Marathon as part his quest. Said he had a resting heart rate of 36. And it talked about his crazy ultra-marathons where he would start to fall asleep while running 100+ miles at a crack.

[BoonesFarmSooner]

You guys realize that Micheal Jordan in his prime could keep up with Lance on a bike for about 15 minutes, right? Before he puked his guts out. Lance's lung capacity, and his heart's ability to pump blood, was closer to that of a horse than a human.



So.... Michael Jordan can't keep up with a 10 speed peddler, who can't keep up with 800+ marathoners.

ESPN really botched up that 100 greatest athletes of the Century program!


Damn, there goes my 4 year old neighbor on her bicycle. She's got mad skills, a pink basket on the front, one of those cool horns, and pink/white streamers! Some of you folks in here need to come check this out!!!!

[SoonerInDC]

Did y'all hear about that Dean Karnazes dude? Ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. His 50th was this same NYC marathon that Armstrong ran in... he finished it in 3:00:30. Talk about freak of nature.

I went to a talk this guy gave at a bookstore once (he wrote a book about his ultramarathoning) and people kept asking him questions about training, like how to improve to his level, and he kept shrugging his shoulders- basically saying he didn't know how he could run like he did. He said he would work his running routes so he would go by a favorite pizza store, or get a Chinese delivery guy to come out to him as he passed by, and he would literally "eat on the run". The falling asleep while running part sounded pretty crazy- he sounds lucky to have not had any accidents that way.

[XingTheRubicon]

So.... Michael Jordan can't keep up with a 10 speed peddler, who can't keep up with 800+ marathoners.

ESPN really botched up that 100 greatest athletes of the Century program!


Damn, there goes my 4 year old neighbor on her bicycle. She's got mad skills, a pink basket on the front, one of those cool horns, and pink/white streamers! Some of you folks in here need to come check this out!!!!


I don't even know where to start, and I'm not gonna even try.



You've convinced me, I've changed my mind. The sports media, every major athlete in the world, his peers in bicycling and triathletes, and all experienced distance runners and/or cyclers are all wrong and you are right.

Enjoy that bliss.

[The Maestro]

endurance does not equate to athleticism

Tell that to Sting's wife!

[picasso]

Tell that to Sting's wife!
yeah, it's tantric man.

[lexsooner]

This past weekend Armstrong finished the Boston marathon in just under 2 hours and 51 minutes. He stepped up his training for this marathon, his new hobby, to a mere 45 minutes running per day, compared with six to seven hours daily training for his competitive biking days. He is well into his 30s and has a much larger frame and body weight 25% heavier than the average world class marathoner. Truly super human.

[Turd_Ferguson]

Twenty is the universally accepted point where everything starts to go south. Your body stars feeding on itself, your nipples start bleeding, you can lose control of your bowels, all sorts of crazy stuff.Uhmm...no thanks.

[BigRedJed]

This past weekend Armstrong finished the Boston marathon in just under 2 hours and 51 minutes. He stepped up his training for this marathon, his new hobby, to a mere 45 minutes running per day, compared with six to seven hours daily training for his competitive biking days. He is well into his 30s and has a much larger frame and body weight 25% heavier than the average world class marathoner. Truly super human.
Sweet. So in other words, he's getting closer and closer to running a world-class time. For a woman.

[C&CDean]

**** Armstrong. He's a ****ing whorn.

[lexsooner]

Sweet. So in other words, he's getting closer and closer to running a world-class time. For a woman.

He doesn't care. He runs these as a hobby to stay in shape and remain in the lime light for his organizations. Given his limited, novice-like training and not so optimal age and body type and weight, his time is incredible.

[12]

BLOODY NIPPLE, BATMAN!