Life After Lance

        
LIFE AFTER LANCE

It must have been an emotional year in 2012 for Lance Armstrong. The man was banned from competitive cycling and stripped of 7 Tour de France titles. He may quite possibly be the only human on earth that will ever know how something like that must feel.

Armstrong also had to separate himself from the successfully charitable Livestrong Foundation that he had helped to build. The charity even legally changed their name so that the integrity and reputation of Livestrong would not be tarnished by the former world-class athlete's doping scandal. The Livestrong Foundation has raised millions of dollars for cancer research.

Lance Armstrong's name has swiftly been crossed out on
the Wikipedia page of Tour de France winners.

Livestrong, which still shows up on some Google searches as "The Lance Armstrong Foundation" (LAF), runs a blog on their site. They posted this blog post within a few days of Lance Armstrong's resignation from the foundation. The post is called 'Running Strong: One Survivor's Story' and it is a short Q&A with Aimee Krakora, a marathoner who suffers from brain cancer. Aimee even has her own blog.

PATHOS

The Livestrong Foundation seems to be striving to forge a new identity that is independent of Lance Armstrong. Livestrong is a powerful brand that that was driven to popularity by Lance Armstrong's endorsement of yellow wristbands which sold for $1. The foundation raised more than $25 million from wristband sales in the first 6 months. That was an impressive beginning and it will be a hard act to follow.  

                                           

When I look at the blog posts from before Lance Armstrong's doping scandal I can see that they focus on fundraising and drawing money to the site. This is contrasted by the posts on the blog after the doping scandal which seem to focus more on ways that the blog can connect with readers emotionally and give back to the cancer community. The blog post about Aimee Krakora is a perfect example of how The Livestrong Foundation wants to reach out and give back to the community.  

Here is a photograph of Aimee from the blog post and an excerpt from her Q&A interview:

"I had my family and loved ones around me but I felt very alone and very scared. A family friend gave me the phone number to the LIVESTRONG Foundation.  I remember calling the LIVESTRONG Foundation for the first time. I spoke with a young lady by the name of Ally. She assured me that it was okay for me to be afraid and that there were many people there to help me. From then on Ally called me on a weekly basis just to check up on me. She was able to get me in touch with local organizations not only to help me financially but to help me cope emotionally with what I was going through. I would tell anyone that this foundation is a priceless tool for anyone going through treatment.  It feels like you have a million people on your side just there to make sure each day is the best it can be for you and they are there even if you just need to talk."

I think that it is a little funny that the author of the blog has capitalized and stylized the spelling of the web site's brand name to match their logo. Regardless of any shameless self-promotion, the author of the blog still manages to make an emotional connection that empowers the reader to join the fight against cancer by donating, by fundraising or by learning about the foundation.

Aimee tells us that she "felt very alone and very scared," and that the Livestrong Foundation made her feel like she had a million people on her side "just there to make sure each day is the best it can be for you." This supports my idea that Livestrong is moving away from being an agency that focuses on the reputation of one man and they are shifting their focus to gain an emotional connection with the millions of people who are affected by cancer.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Livestrong Blog continues to post profiles of amateur athletes who are fundraising for cancer. I think that giving recognition to the people who support the foundation is a great way to attract new readers and to recruit new supporters. I think that Livestrong wants to show their readers that they do not need to be as famous as Lance Armstrong in order to make a difference. Aimee shares a lot with us in this Q&A and her personal blog also contains some emotionally sensitive materials about her struggle with brain cancer. I have more empathy for her because, unlike Lance Armstrong, Aimee is not financially backed by corporate sponsors.

This blog post appeals to my emotions because my father is a marathoner and he has survived cancer twice. I feel as though I can relate to Aimee more then I can relate to Lance. Sorry Lance.