Armstrong Prepares for NYC Marathon

Lance Armstrong took part in a 5 mile run from Midtown to Queens, practicing for the upcoming NYC marathon (Running along 57th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday, September 20, 2006)

Seven-time Tour de France Lance Armstrong may have retired from the sport of cycling. He has clearly not lost his competitive edge, though, having now set himself the target of completing the New York Marathon on 5th November.

On Wednesday, Armstrong ran from midtown Manhattan to the borough of Queens to give himself a taste of what he faces.

It is over a year since Lance Armstrong stepped out of the saddle, after calling time on arguably the most successful career in the history of cycling.

But competitive desire still courses through his veins.

And now the seven-time Tour de France winner has a fresh challenge ahead of him - the New York City Marathon.

Armstrong completed a training run from midtown Manhattan to the borough of Queens on Wednesday, and was warmly received by the large crowd of people running with him.

The Texan began his training session at Niketown, before crossing the 59th Street Bridge and into Queens.

The New York City Marathon, which usually draws more than 85,000 applicants each year, takes place on Sunday, November 5th.

The marathon traverses New York's five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan before the finish line in Central Park.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Armstrong's diagnosis with testicular cancer. His dramatic recovery, and subsequent success in the sport of cycling, inspired him to found the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997. The organization was set up with the purpose of helping people who are affected in any way by cancer.

As for the New York marathon, Armstrong assures us that - by his previous world-beating standards - his targets are relatively modest.

"I don't know what (time) I would like to do. I would like to be fit enough to at least break three hours, (but) that may be ambitious, I've never done a marathon so I don't have anything to compare it to. I've never run more than 17 or 18 miles. Perhaps I've bit off more than I can chew, I don't know. But three hours would be nice. I would love to run a 'two (hours) 30 (minutes)' one of these days, but that's like a dream."

Finding the stamina to complete the marathon will surely be no problem for the still super-fit Armstrong. There were no difficulties whatsoever after Wednesday's run, as the seven-time Tour winner happily posed for photographs and signed autographs.