Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, has entered the 2008 Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association announced Jan. 17. Armstrong qualified for the Boston Marathon with a 2:46:43 finish at the 2007 ING New York City Marathon. The Boston Marathon qualifying time for Armstrong’s 35-39-year-old age group is 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Armstrong 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, Armstrong competed in the 2006 ING New York City Marathon, completing the race in 2:59:36. He returned to New York City a year later, improving his time to 2:46:43. In Boston, Armstrong will be raising 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 Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, 2008, Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The race follows a 26.2-mile point-to-point route from the town of Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston’s Back Bay. The race begins at 10:00 a.m.