But Lance is a fierce competitor and he wanted to go sub 3 on that marathon. It almost killed him. He said running the marathon was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

So - just finishing is not enough for him and therefore he had to train.

"For the level of condition that I have now, that was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done," said Armstrong, who finished 856th.

Two responses to the same question:
1. No doubt he could have finished. He's far more fit than I ever dream of being. In Feb '06 with 3wks notice I decided to go to New Orleans and run the Mardi Gras Marathon the first year after Hurricane Katrina as a show of support for the city. I hadn't run more than 8 miles in almost 6mos and I did it. Slowly, not too painfully, but I did it. Yes, Lance could have done it, just not at the level of performance he'd want from himself.

2. To me, the real question is whether he can achieve the times he wants to without world-class running domestiques. I'm a huge Lance fan, but this year I'd like to see him pacing himself, getting his own water, etc... the way the rest of us mortals do it. THEN we (and he) know what he can really do. Marathons aren't a team sport the way cycling is.

I agree with all of the above too, and he proved that with whatever training method he ended up using, it equated to a sub 3-hour marathon time for his given level of fitness. And with a VO2 max of 83.2, his given level is, uumm, slightly higher than most of ours'.

With that being said, I don't think the jab by Tamara was needed. I did a Cat. 5 UCSF sanctioned race the other week and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done...even with a team. And Cat. 5 is supposed to be a beginning sort of level! Even if Lance did have world-class super domestiques, I think he proved he can pull his own weight...and about eight others'.