Marathon News - Armstrong to Run Boston Marathon

Jan-17-2008

Armstrong to Run Boston Marathon
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

Lance Armstrong plans to extend his marathon career by running the 2008 Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today. It will be his third marathon; he ran the ING New York City Marathon in both 2006 and 2007.

In a press release the B.A.A. took care to explain that Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion, had actually qualifed for the race like
any other runner by running a 2:46:43 at New York last November (the qualifying standard for men 35 to 39 is 3:15:00). Most of the 22,473 runners who entered Boston last year had to qualify, although some were granted entry through charity groups or other special entry programs.

As in his two previous marathons, Armstrong will be running to raise money for his Lance Armstrong Foundation, which pursues an agenda focused on
cancer prevention, access to screening and care, the improvement of the quality of life for cancer survivors, and an investment in research. Armstrong survived testicular cancer which was diagnosed in 1996.

The 112th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, Patriots' Day in Massachusetts. The race follows a 26 mile, 385 yard point-to-point route
from the town of Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston's Back Bay. The race begins at 10:00 a.m.