The latest Lance Armstrong venture: Competing in Spartan Races
Former competitive cyclist Lance Armstrong, banned from the sport for life, competed at an Austin, Texas Spartan Race on April 23.
Former American pro cyclist Lance Armstrong, once a seven-time Tour de France winner before the titles were stripped for doping, has gotten into obstacle course racing. The 44-year-old competed in his first-ever Spartan race on April 23 in Austin, Texas. This is not the only time Armstrong has made news recently for working his way into the running world.
According to Armstrong’s Strava account (a social media platform where users post workouts), he covered 13.9K on Saturday. He averages approximately 55 kilometres of running per week.
Competing in the super spartan elite category, Armstrong officially placed 90th overall in 1:50:17. The super spartan involves more than 12K of running and more than 25 signature obstacles.
RELATED: Lance Armstrong expresses interest in ultrarunning and trail races.
There was speculation earlier this year on whether Armstrong would be eligible to compete in obstacle course racing because of his doping ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency. Mud Run Guide wrote in response to Armstrong’s eligibility to compete that “the answer is murky, and currently, it seems it would come down to individual race series working with USADA [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] to determine if Armstrong would be ale to compete and at what level.”
Armstrong publicly admitted to doping on the The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2013 and has since become a controversial figure in sports for his extensive use of blood doping during the world’s most famous bike race, the Tour de France. He is banned for life from competitive cycling but is permitted to compete in other sports under certain guidelines. The ban went into effect in 2012.
The Spartan Race was not his first appearance in a running event in recent months. Armstrong won the Woodside Ramble 35K trail race in California running 3:00:36 on Dec. 13, 2015.
According to the below post, Armstrong did 180 burpees. In the same post, Spartan Race notes that Armstrong’s “return to the sport has even more obstacles than before.”
In November, Armstrong told Movember Radio that “part of me wants to go run an ultra, or find a 100-miler to run or go find an obstacle-course race that’s super challenging,” so Armstrong’s Spartan Race appearance is not a big surprise.
Armstrong noted that he thought he was tough before Sunday’s race. As can be seen in the below Instagram post, apparently that may not be the case admitting he was “dead wrong.”
Before yesterday’s @spartanrace. Was thinking I was all tough and shit. I was dead wrong.
A photo posted by Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) on
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