Charles Philibert-Thiboutot took the opportunity to sign a Canadian record by crossing the finish line following 13 min 35 s of effort. The national mark of 13:36 was set by Paul Williams in Carlsbad, California in June 1986.
I am really happy
assured Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, reached by telephone by Radio-Canada. Honestly, it’s not the strongest Canadian record that existed, but it’s still my first Canadian record.
The 31-year-old runner is a specialist in the 1500m, a discipline for which he already has his standard to participate in the World Championships. The Boston 5k was an opportunity for him to work on his stamina and racing sense.
The 1500 is still my goal, but as I’m in a preferential position, we work more on endurance. The way races are done in the 1500, you have to demonstrate excellent endurance. That was the goal and it paid off. My form is excellent.
The first third of the race was quite slow. There are two athletes, a Moroccan and a Kenyan, who gave a big blow. They broke away. I hesitated to follow them, but I told myself that I had to do it if I wanted to win. We were the three to take turns leading the race, in the wind. It was windy in Boston.
In the last kilometer, there remained the Kenyan and me. I said to myself that I had to increase the pace to prevent the peloton from catching up with us. I started to gain one stride, then two… As a matter of fact, the peloton caught up with the Kenyan and I was able to win.
After the race, Philibert-Thiboutot was to return to California, where he continues to train. His next big meeting will be on May 6, in that same state, a race which will be attended by most of his rivals who train in the United States and some others from Europe.
The Boston Marathon will be in its 126th presentation. The famous event is back in April following being presented in the fall of 2021 and canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.