Where Your Dreams Become
Reality
Where Your Dreams Become
Reality
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Lance Armstrong Loves the Boston Fans And Wants to Do Two Marathons a Year Editor's note: The information below is excerpted from our 2008 Men's Boston Marathon recap where Robert Cheruiyot put on an exhibition winning his 4th Boston title. The recap can be found here.  Lance Running His First Boston
Lance Armstrong made his Boston debut in 2:50:58 and had high praise for the Boston crowds. Lance's two previous marathons were in New York. While the BAA may no longer be on the same level as New York in terms of the quality of its fields, it still has its storied tradition and its passionate fans, which Lance said were louder than those in New York. Lance said, "I feel better than my first marathon in New York, but not as good as my second in New York, which is about in line with my fitness. This is a harder course than New York and the streets are just tighter. The crowd was so close but also so supportive. They were great. This has a different atmosphere because it is louder and more intense. Everyone feels that." He went on to praise the Boston crowds even more, "Boston is a huge event in the world of marathoning. I hope to do at least two marathons per year. Boston was a pleasant surprise. I expected the crowds to be great but they were about ten times what I expected." Boston could not get a better endorsement than that. But ultimately we hope Boston does not rely on just its tradition and Lance Armstrong to keep its reputation. We want to see Boston step up its game and try and compete on a level playing field for the top marathoners in the world with London. Robert Cheruiyot said it best himself, "It is very difficult when you are running alone. You can not run alone and run 2:07 in Boston. You need company." We'd love to see what is possible on the Boston course if a field like London's is assembled, but we may have to keep dreaming. John Hancock's contract with Boston runs through 2018, although Boston did add corporate signage to the start and finish this year and this article from last year indicates John Hancock realizes it needs to bring in more partners if it wants to keep Boston competitive.
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Runner's World &
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