Lance Armstrong was in town last week to speak at the World Cancer Congress, when out of the blue, he decided to invite the whole Island to join him for a run on Wednesday evening. When I heard of Armstrong’s invitation on Twitter, my first thought as a journalism student was to bring my camera and recorder.

I was very gung ho at the notion considering he’s recently been all over the news. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had just banned Armstrong from further competition and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles due to allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs. It was heavy stuff.

It was only as I was leaving for the park that I realized hauling my equipment would keep me from actually running. How often would I get the chance to do my cardio work- out with the most famous cyclist in the world? So I left my gear at home and told myself, ‘don’t worry about the story. Just run.’

The congregation waiting for Armstrong at the foot of the George-Étienne Cartier monument was impressive. By 6 p.m., hundreds of people in various states of readiness were shuffling about.

Finally, the man of the hour made his way through the throng and hopped on a bench. He quickly greeted the crowd before taking off up the gravel path, flanked by what seemed like every runner in Montreal. I followed. It was an odd feeling knowing somewhere in the crowd before me was a world-class athlete setting the pace and I was keeping up. I was going to keep step with this paragon of fitness and live to tell the tale! Yeah right! I’d been running a few times a week all summer, so I was by no means unfit. Yet despite my best efforts, after about half-an-hour, I found myself slowing down and had to reason with myself. Don’t worry about keeping up with the world-class athlete. Keep your own pace. Just run. We were already near the top, and most of the trail was downhill from there. I took my time and tried to appreciate the scenery around me. Everything was beautiful up there, and I don’t just mean the foliage. A run like that attracted a lot of very fit people. My social survival instincts kicked in. I thought to myself, “Whatever you do, try to look as good as them. Be impressive!”