To give something back: With this in mind, Olympian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot will start the Beneva Montreal Marathon on Sunday, where he will act as an ambassador for the event, which is now in its 31st year.
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The 2016 Rio Olympian is used to betting on rabbits in important races where he wants to achieve a good time and will be at the Beneva Montreal Marathon, where he will compete in the half marathon (21.1 km). , reversing the roles.
“I’m going to help people excel and it’s an interesting project to engage with the running community,” said the man who has just set an American record in the 2000m, enjoying the presence of a strong peloton and took advantage of three rabbits. It really makes me happy.
America record
At a Diamond League event held in Brussels, Belgium on September 8, Philibert-Thiboutout took advantage of the presence of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and several big names from the international 1500m scene to record a time of 4 minutes, 51 seconds and 54 minutes while establishing the 2000 m record in America. The Norwegian broke the world record in a race at Baudouin Stadium with a time of 4:43.13, a mark that stood for 24 years.
“The bunnies have been really important in my races and I enjoy helping people,” he said. I give back a part of what I get. In the group of runners aiming for a time of 1 hour and 40 minutes, it will be fairly easy for me to maintain the pace and there will be a critical mass of participants that I can help.
“In Belgium, the American record was not on my radar, even though I was planning on achieving a personal best because it had been a long time since I had completed a 2000 meter race and I am in good shape,” added Philibert-Thiboutot, but I took advantage of the presence of a strong platoon.”
Healthy running
Philibert-Thiboutot believes running is doing well in Quebec. “The 10km, half marathon and marathon are sold out in Montreal, which is excellent news,” emphasized the 1500m specialist. This wasn’t the case last year and there is some interesting growth. Montreal is one of the most beautiful tourist cities in North America and self-respecting cities offer a high-profile, high-quality marathon. The new organization (the same one that runs the Quebec and Montreal cycling Grands Prix) approached me last year and I didn’t hesitate to get involved.”
Initially, 3,500 runners will compete in the marathon, 8,500 in the half marathon, 4,500 in the 10K, 3,000 in the 5K and 1,000 in the 1K.
Pan American Games
With his Olympic standard under his belt, which he achieved on July 16th in Poland during a stage of the Diamond League, Philibert-Thiboutot is back in Quebec for the next few weeks to prepare for the Pan American Games starting October 20th will take place in Santiago, Chile until November 5th.
“I’m spending the whole fall in Quebec and it feels good,” he said. Instead of training in Vancouver, my coach Félix-Antoine Lapointe and I decided that a good preparation would be to train with Jean-Simon Desgagnés and Thomas Fafard. Because I’m healthy, I can keep up the pace without having to resort to treatments from my physical therapist in Vancouver.”
Concrete goals for Pan Am? “With the Paris Games in mind, my training four weeks before departure will not be particularly intensive and therefore I will not be at my best in Chile,” he explained. I won’t have a time target, but I will do my best to win in the 1500m and 5000m because I am one of the best runners on the continent. I just took about ten days off, which was really good for me physically and mentally. It’s okay to take a break on your terms and not because you’re injured.”