Charles Philibert-Thiboutot took the opportunity to sign a Canadian record by crossing the finish line after 13 min 35 s effort. The national mark of 13:36 was set by Paul Williams in Carlsbad, California in June 1986.

I’m really happyassured Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who was reached by telephone by Radio-Canada. Honestly, it’s not the strongest Canadian record that has existed, but it’s still my first record in Canada.

The 31-year-old runner is a specialist in 1500m, a discipline in which he already has the criteria to participate in the World Championships. The Boston 5k was an opportunity for him to work on his stamina and racing sense.

1500 is still my goal, but as I am in a preference position, we work more on endurance. How to do races in 1500, you have to show great endurance. That was the goal and it paid off. I’m in good shape.

The first third of the race was pretty slow. There were two athletes, a Moroccan and a Kenyan, who gave a big punch. They separated. I was reluctant to follow them, but I told myself I had to do it if I wanted to win. The three of us took the lead in the race, in the air. Windy in Boston.

In the last kilometer, the Kenyan and I stayed. I told myself that I needed to increase the speed so that the peloton would not catch up with us. I started to get one step, then two … In fact, the peloton overtook the Kenyan and I was able to win.

After the race, Philibert-Thiboutot will return to California, where he continues to train. His next big conference will be on May 6, in the same state, a race that will be attended by most of his rivals training in the United States and a few others from Europe.

The Boston Marathon is in its 126th performance. The popular event returned in April after being staged in the fall of 2021 and canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.