Eilish McColgan
Eilish McColgan had a frustrating day at the London Marathon. Now, most of us would kill to finish 7th in 2:24.51, but then Eilish has reason to set higher expectations. Last year, in her first marathon, she ran 2:24:25.
I had spoken to Eilish earlier in the week about the challenges in her preparation and expectations from the race: “This year was a little bit different. We had quite a short prep heading into it because I knew I really needed to focus on getting my 10k and half back to where they were, like post-knee surgery. It took me a long time to get to those speedier sessions. So that was really the focus, because I know that, longer term, that’s what’s going to help my marathon. So it’s been a short build-up, but within that short build-up, I’ve still been able to do longer runs, more mileage”.
Photo: Kieran Cleeves for London Marathon Events
In terms of expectations, “I think you can’t argue with a PB. Of course, I have greater goals and aims for myself. I would obviously love to run a 2:20, but I don’t know how realistic that is on a London course. I know there are pacemakers, but they are really pacemakers just for that front group. And last year, I ran totally solo, a really tough way to do a marathon. Maybe a faster time is more likely to come in Berlin, Chicago, Valencia, one of those ones that’s on a much faster course”.
Photo: Peter Nicholls for London Marathon Events
Most people would agree with Eilish that London isn’t a record-breaking course – well, until we got the two 1:59s, not to mention a third consecutive women-only world record.
An injury put paid to Eilish’s hopes as she explained afterward: “Not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister in my foot. It sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can express it is that I felt that my foot just exploded. It was obviously pretty sore, and it panicked me a little bit. And then, I was running a bit funny, and I couldn’t put pressure through my foot. Part of me was like ‘it’s a long way to make it to 26.2’ Then it started to hurt in different areas as well. I got to like twenty-four miles, and my knee started playing up, but I just thought, ‘I can’t get to twenty-four miles and not finish it’. I had to go to see the doctor after the race, and I just couldn’t put any pressure through my foot, and it was just totally covered with blood. So, it’s frustrating to run the same sort of time as I did last year in my debut. I’m just disappointed with how my body sort of held up there”. She said she was determined to finish but worried about the risk of another injury while trying to protect her foot.
Eilish added that she had no idea what caused it, as she was running in familiar shoes she had used in a 10K and a half-marathon.
Asking about her plans for the year – another marathon, Commonwealth Games? – Eilish said that she would need to see how long it took her to recover before making any decisions.
Listen to my pre-race interview with Eilish at
Eilish McColgan chats preparations, learnings & aims for this year ahead of the 2026 London Marathon
