Lance Armstrong expresses interest in ultrarunning and trail races

Lance Armstrong, a retired American cyclist who had seven Tour de France titles stripped when he was found guilty of doping, has expressed interest in competing in trail races and ultramarathons, according to a recent podcast interview.

“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,” said Armstrong to Movember Radio.

Armstrong, 44, ran the New York City Marathon in 2006 and 2007 before racing Boston in 2008. The former cyclist has a lifetime marathon best of 2:46:43 and had 1,500m world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj pace him to sub-3:00 in 2006.

Armstrong was handed a lifetime ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2012 after winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005. After years of denial, Armstrong publicly admitted on the Oprah Winfrey Show that he had doped throughout his career.

Backing his interest in trail running, Armstrong won the Woodside Ramble 35K trail race on Dec. 13 in California running 3:00:36.

Can’t remember the last time I had this much fun suffering for 3 hours. https://t.co/USLBsIlLDS

— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) December 13, 2015

The appearance led some competitors to question whether Armstrong should be allowed to compete at nationally-sanctioned events considering his history of doping.

Joe Gray, a nine-time U.S. national champion, asked the following question via his Facebook page: “If someone at your job cheats their way into being promoted multiple times, should they be fired? Should they not lose the opportunity to work at that job and now have to find a new job?”

Armstrong is permitted to return to sanctioned events in a sport other than his previous primary sport, in this case cycling, in 2016, according to the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Armstrong hinted at his interest during a recent podcast with Movember Radio, which can be found below.