Lance : NY marathon is hardest challenge yet

Lance Armstrong completed the New York marathon just three seconds shy of his intended target of three hours.

The 35-year-old American, the record seven-time winner of the Tour de France, then admitted it was the most demanding event he has ever endured. "That was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I've ever done," an exhausted Armstrong said after participating with some 38,000 other runners.

"In 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all the Tours, even the worst days in the Tours, nothing was as hard as that and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness."

Armstrong said ahead of the race he was under no illusions about coming in with the head of the field. A former professional triathlete before focusing uniquely on cycling, Armstrong - who retired last year - decided the streets of Manhattan would be his next challenge and also give him a chance to raise money for cancer charities.

Armstrong, who beat cancer after being diagnosed in 1996 and went on to rewrite the record book for the world's biggest bike race, took along three veteran running greats to help him complete the race -- his debut at the distance.

Despite his retirement from cycling he still risked distracting attention from the main marathon itself, with a dedicated television camera -- dubbed the Lance-cam -- covering him throughout the race. Asked if he would consider racing at the distance again, he was equivocal. "The answer right now is no, I'll never be back, but I reserve the right to change my mind in a month," he said.

Armstrong, wearing a green top smiled and waved to supporters lining the streets in the early stages of the route but started showing the strain and grimacing beyond the 20-mile mark. He was flanked by retired distance legends Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Hicham El Guerrouj, taken on as pace setters to help him make the distance.

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