By Zac Layton
While watching NBC”s coverage of the ING New York City Marathon the Sunday morning of Nov. 5, 2006, I sat in amazement as a 35-year-old Texan-and a first-time marathon runner – ran 26.2 miles in 2:59:37. This is hardly a notable achievement, considering Brazil”s Marilson Gomes won the event in a slow-for-marathon pace of 2:09:58. No, the Texan didn”t win, but there was something inspiring about watching him. Actually, it”s been inspiring watching him for the last seven years.
This Texan man is Lance Armstrong.
Armstrong will be forever remembered by the media and in cultures worldwide as an athlete. This is, after all, how he became Lance. He first achieved superstar status in 2002 when he joined an elite club of four-time winners at the Tour de France. By the time he won his seventh-consecutive Tour de France (now known as The Tour de Lance) in the summer of 2005, he stood at the pinnacle of professional sports and had become the greatest athlete of our era. Not only had he dominated the most grueling event in all of sport seven times, he did so in a rock-star manner, captivating cycling enthusiasts and sweeping Europe and the U.S off its feet.
Why did America begin to care about cycling, The Tour de France and Lance Armstrong? Because he is more than just an athlete, he is what is good about America. Those seven Tour de France victories become astonishing when put in perspective. On October 2, 1996 Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which quickly spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors promised him he would smell death in six months, and that was generous. There was no alternative. The cancer had spread too fast and had taken over too many vital organs. Armstrong was a dead man, but he refused to believe it.
Less than three years later, Armstrong won his first Tour de France in dominating fashion.
Not many would be grateful to cancer for its invasion and destroying power, but Armstrong isn”t like most.
“The truth is that cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he would later say.
Since retiring from cycling immediately after his last Tour de France victory, he has spearheaded the Lance Armstrong Foundation in an attempt to raise money for cancer research and its elimination. He tirelessly travels around the world to raise awareness and provide hope to those battling the disease. He is a humanitarian and a crusader.
Armstrong”s real-life story is one of overcoming obstacles in the face of Everest-like circumstances, rejecting pessimism and reaching goals. He believes in the power of self and mind over body, and he chooses to ignore trouble. His is the story of never giving up.
I can picture Armstrong sitting at home with his three kids on this warm afternoon wondering how he can now help change the world one person at a time.
As I watched Lance cross the finish line on that brisk Sunday morning in Central Park I stood and clapped alone in my living room. He had achieved his goal by breaking three hours, and did so with severe shin splints. And once again, he had captivated a nation and gave hope to millions.
That is Lance Armstrong. Livestrong.
