Before going to bed Friday in Boston, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot received a small electric shock: his friend William Paulson had just broken his provincial record in the 1500 m during a meeting in California.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“It kind of lit a fire a bit. I told myself that I had to do a big performance to reply. »
The next day, the runner from Quebec showed up on the starting line of the 5 km of the Boston Athletic Association with “the knife between his teeth”. His goal: to win the contested race as a prelude to the famous marathon presented on Monday.
Among the 10,000 starters in this popular event, he noted the presence of some high-calibre opponents, including a Moroccan 6and 3000m at the last Indoor Worlds, a Kenyan who had just completed a half-marathon in 60 minutes and a New Zealander who won the 3000m at the Millrose Games. In short, “it was good people”.
As a matter of fact, the Moroccan Zouhair Talbi and the Kenyan Edward Cheserek, a former glory of the NCAA, broke away “early in the race”. Philibert-Thiboutot understood that he had to react there.
My goal was nothing but to win. I knew the Americans were a bit of a jerk, that they wouldn’t go with them. I said to myself: if I want to win, I have to go. That’s what I did.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot
The Moroccan gave in at the third kilometer, followed by the Kenyan a kilometer further. The Quebecer crossed the last kilometer alone against the wind, with the peloton on his heels. Carried by the crowd that lined the final straight, he barely managed to resist. Ten or fifteen meters before breaking the ribbon, he saw the stopwatch. So he gave one last flick before crossing the line.
His time: 13 minutes 35 seconds, or 1 second better than the Canadian record held by Paul Williams since 1986. Philibert-Thiboutot was the first to point it out: this national mark was not the most impressive. That said, an unfavorable wind blew from start to finish and the course was not flat from start to finish.
“I didn’t really stop at that. This race, I really wanted to win it. That time follows, it was like a bonus. But compared to other 5k road races around the world, the final time was not great. »
A Quebec rivalry?
In his first competition of the year, Philibert-Thiboutot wanted to mark the occasion. “I had done my best training ever at altitude. I felt like I could be the best runner that day at the start line. I wanted to show it to everyone. »
The record of Paulson, a Quebecer who grew up in Great Britain, only increased his motivation tenfold.
“I’m still in the sport to be competitive at the highest level,” noted Philibert-Thiboutot. I am not here to sit on my laurels. The fact that he beat my record, it kind of gave me a little kick in the ass for the Boston race and it also gives me one for the rest of the season in the 1500m. I don’t want to leave this record broken. »
Paulson’s performance sets the stage for a great Quebec duel. “I’m really happy for him, but it’s also fun that there is a rivalry like that at the Quebec level. I don’t think that has ever happened. It would have taken Bruny Surin to have an equal on his best days for it to compare a bit to what’s going to happen between Will and me this summer in 1500.”
After missing his selection for the Tokyo Olympics, Philibert-Thiboutot passed his qualification standard for the World Championships presented from mid-July in Eugene, Oregon, Paulson’s hometown. Félix-Antoine Lapointe’s protege therefore approaches the season with great confidence after years marked by injuries.
The Rio semi-finalist, however, missed the entire indoor campaign due to a ruptured calf muscle in January. “It’s been five weeks without training, but at the same time, in the last year and a half, I really had a good momentum. It wasn’t too difficult to come back from that heartbreak. »
Philibert-Thiboutot will test his endurance again in a 5,000m on the track next month in California. The half-founder has never hidden his desire to broaden his palette, a trend on the international circuit at the moment.
“Félix-Antoine and I think that the 5000 and the 1500 are not at all mutually exclusive. Our goal is therefore to be competitive on both distances in the coming years. »
In an ideal world, the 31-year-old athlete would participate in the 1500m at the Worlds in Eugene and the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, for which he will however have to achieve an “extremely ambitious” time.
“Qui toe! »
Deprived of funding by Athletics Canada last fall, did Philibert-Thiboutot have a little thought for the leaders of the federation when he achieved his record in Boston? “Every time a result like this happens, I think about it for two seconds and I’m like: quin toé! But I don’t want to use that as motivation because frankly, it’s negative energy. The runner continues his preparation at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, on the sidelines of the national team, which trains at the same place. His status does not give him access to specialists on site. A regrettable situation for the man who believes he was injured in January due to discomfort in an untreated foot after the National Cross-Country Championships, where he finished second in November. Judging the cost of a plane ticket to Vancouver, where his physiotherapist lives, to be prohibitive, he had preferred not to visit her. “Not having support has ramifications. I’m ready to say that I got injured this winter because of it. Wanting to avoid the same mistake, he’s been moving to Vancouver for the past two months and will be returning after his next competition on May 6.