Sunday’s TCS New York City Marathon was a bittersweet day for Canada’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot. The event not only marked the runner’s first-ever marathon, but also his final race as a professional athlete.
Philibert-Thiboutot navigated a very brief training block and a quick turnaround from the 2025 World Athletics Championships less than two months ago, while battling mid-race cramps, to complete the run in two hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds. He placed 21st in the men’s elite race.
“The time wasn’t pretty,” he said. “I came through the first half with the lead pack in 65:20–much faster than I wanted to go out, but I felt great. I felt like I was going to go with the guys.”
Philibert-Thiboutot said he started cramping badly around the 25-km mark, and at 28 or 29 km, he almost had to come to a full stop. “I felt like hopping on the medical cart for a little while,” he said. “I was thinking about my family, who were waiting for me at the finish line–and I couldn’t stop. I took it one step at a time after that. All that mattered was finishing–and it was really hard.”
Despite the mid-run challenges, the runner is happy he took on the marathon. “The atmosphere is something special,” he said. “I’ve never felt anything like that before. The crowd was so loud. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who can make it here.”
During retirement, Philibert-Thiboutot says he doesn’t plan on competing at all. “I’m going to run to stay fit, but I’m very tired mentally and physically. I’m happy with my career.”
“It felt surreal today, in the last mile of the race, to tell myself it was the last mile of my career. I’m ready to rest for a little bit.”
A condensed training plan
Philibert-Thiboutot explained that because he raced at the World Athletics Championships in September, he had significant time constraints on his marathon build.
“It was a very different type of training [from the 1,500m],” he told Canadian Running before the event. “I had about a five- to six-week build-up, compared to the usual 15 weeks. It was a lot of easy volume, running up to 180 km per week–just running whenever it was possible.”
A legendary career
Philibert-Thiboutot is a nine-time Canadian champion, including two titles from 2025. In his Canadian 10K Championships debut in Ottawa in May, he set a new national record in the distance (28:06). In September, just six days after competing at the World Championships in Tokyo, he travelled back to Montreal to win the Sports Experts 5K, which doubles as the Canadian 5K Championships, in 14:18.
One of his favourite memories of his career comes from the 2023 Pan American Games, standing on the top of the podium after earning gold in the 1,500m and listening to the Canadian national anthem play for him.
See here for full results from the 2025 NYC Marathon.
