Canadian YouTube star finishes among top celebrity runners at New York City Marathon

Each year, the TCS New York City Marathon attracts celebrities from all walks of life to run 42.2 km for one of its many affiliated charity partners. Finishing near the top of this year’s celebrity field was Canadian YouTuber Cody Ko, who ran a massive personal best of 3:21:24.

Ko’s time made him the third-fastest celebrity in the race, behind only American YouTube personality Casey Neistat (2:57:41), a New York Marathon regular, and Love Island: Season 7 contestant Elan Bibas, who edged out Ko by less than a minute, in 3:20:38.

Last month, Ko told Canadian Running on The Shakeout Podcast that his two goals for the weekend were to show his newborn son the Big Apple and to run a sub-3:20 marathon. He accomplished one and came within 85 seconds of the other.

“It kinda sucked (expletive), but I was happy to PR by eight minutes,” Ko wrote on social media. “But I loved every second of it.”

Comedian and YouTube star Cody Ko on sharing his marathon journey with the masses

During the race, Ko said he was too locked in on getting the most out of himself on the day, but he also admitted he couldn’t “toxically resist” looking up which celebrities he beat afterward. “Even though I beat that guy from Wicked, I don’t think anything can compare to doing two back-to-back Broadway shows after running a marathon,” Ko joked.

More impressively, Ko improved his marathon finishing time from the same race two years ago by 32 minutes.

“It just further proves to me that you have to put in the work and trust the process—the rest seems to fall into place,” Ko told Canadian Running.

Earlier this year, Ko began working with a running coach to bring more structure and accountability to his training. Before that, he was self-coached and said he found it difficult to get the most out of the work he was putting in.

Over the past two years, Ko has also evolved his YouTube content from self-deprecating comedy sketches to in-depth training vlogs focused on Ironmans, ultras and marathons. Across his channels, the Calgary native has more than six million subscribers and previously starred in the satirical Facebook Watch series The Real Bros of Simi Valley.

In addition to earning a personal best and a bronze medal in the celebrity division, Ko also raised US$10,000 for the Release Recovery Foundation, a non-profit with the vision of a world where everyone has access to high-quality treatment for substance use and mental health.

“There’s so much that makes this race special,” Ko said. “Looking back, there wasn’t a single second I wasn’t insanely pumped up by the energy of the crowd. Having my family there to cheer me on was the icing on the cake—I can’t thank them enough.”