Photo by www.photorun.net: Joan Benoit Samuelson, Lance Armstrong, and RD Dave McGillivray

Joan Benoit Samuelson's time of 2:49:08 on Sunday, April 20 in the 2008 Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon set a record for American women 50-plus, previously held by Shirley Matson (1993 Twin Cities Marathon, 2:50:26). She is a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon women's race, in 1979 (2:35:15 at age 21) and 1983 (2:22:43).

Dave McGillivray is the race director of the BAA Boston Marathon, the 2008 U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K, and the Denver Marathon.

Lance Armstrong (36) of Austin, TX, the seven-time Tour de France champion, completed the 2008 Boston Marathon in 2:50:58 (1:26:52 at half). He had qualified for the Boston Marathon with a personal best 2:46:43 at the 2007 ING New York City Marathon. The Boston Marathon qualifying time for Armstrong's 35-39 age group is 3:15.

Lance won the 1993 World Cycling Championship as well as multiple stages of the Tour de France before being diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer in 1996. Though the cancer spread to his lungs and brain, Armstrong recovered to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles (1999-2005).

Following his retirement from professional cycling, Lance competed in the 2006 ING New York City Marathon, completing the race in 2:59:36. In Boston, Armstrong raised money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which pursues an agenda focused on cancer prevention, access to screening and care, the improvement of the quality of life for cancer survivors, and an investment in research.

The 112th Boston follows a 26.2-mile point-to-point route from the town of Hopkinton, MA to Boston's Back Bay.

More on Joan Benoit Samuelson:
The winner of the first Olympic women's marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Joan Samuelson is synonymous with the increased popularity of long distance running in the United States. She won the Olympic Marathon at age 26, just 17 days following agonizing knee surgery. Joan, who was ranked #1 in the world in the marathon on two occasions, is a former world and U.S. record holder in that event. She was the 1981 U.S. 10,000m champion and the 1984 U.S. women's marathon champion. Joan Benoit Samuelson set the world and U.S. women's marathon record in 1984, and set the U.S. women's marathon record on four occasions. She was ranked #4 in the world at 10,000m in 1984, and she was world ranked five-times in the marathon (#1 two times). She is a pioneer of women's marathoning who won the 1979 and 1983 Boston Marathons, the 1992 Columbus Marathon and the 1985 Chicago Marathon. In 1985, she was awarded the prestigious AAU Sullivan Award as the nation's finest amateur athlete.

Learn more about Lance Armstrong and his foundation.