NYC Marathon 2006: Yin vs Armstrong?

I started running again this year in an attempt to harness eternal youth. In this regard, I decided to apply to the NYC marathon to be held in November, 2006. This race is a massive circus with 30,000+ runners, essentially a 26.2 mile parade around the 5 boroughs of NYC. Like running the Boston marathon, its a pilgrammage many runners feel like they must try to do at some point. Unlike Boston, where there is a qualifying time that must be met before one can apply, Entry into the NYC marathon is a lottery with people all over the world trying to get one of the coveted race numbers. I was somewhat surprised when my on-line application automatically announced I had received one of these sought out spots. My initial plan was to run a marathon in October (Columbus?) and to run NYC for fun in November. However, I am considering delaying my entry (which you can do) til 2007, in order to run it with a couple of friends. Rick and Kara live and run in NYC where they are attempting to obtain guaranteed entrees for 2007 by running a minimum number of NY Road Runners Club sponsored races.

However, my ultimate decision may be influenced by Lance Armstrong's announcement that he would be running this year's NYC marathon. Said Armstrong: "I had initally planned to run Chicago, but when I heard Phil was running NYC, I decided to do it instead. I felt that I owed it to the sport of distance running to give them this match-up that they have always dreamed about. I feel racing against Phil in a marathon would be a rivalry equal to the one I had with Jan [Ullrich]." -www.SI.com