Commonwealth 10,000m champion breaks Scottish record in London, while Rose Harvey also secures top 10 place

There was a mixture of relief, disappointment, pain and excitement for Eilish McColgan after she won the British women’s marathon title and broke the Scottish record in London on Sunday (April 27). However, the overriding emotion was the satisfaction that, finally, she had been able to race over the 26.2-mile distance.

Having been due to compete in London in 2023, injury forced the Commonwealth 10,000m champion to abort that plan and it had taken until now for her to be able to step on to the start line.

Race day didn’t entirely go as planned and McColgan admitted to paying the price for setting off too fast, while there was quad pain to battle as well. However, she used the encouragement of the huge crowds to make it to the finish line in eighth place overall, clocking 2:24:25.

That meant the 34-year-old had achieved two of her pre-race targets – breaking Steph Twell’s Scottish record of 2:26:40 from 2019 and the 2:26:52 marathon best of her mother and coach, 1996 London winner Liz McColgan.

“That was a very, very tough run,” said McColgan, who had gone through halfway in 70:44. “I set off a little bit hot and I paid the price for that. There’s lots to learn but I can call myself a marathon runner now so I’m really proud.

“It’s two years later than planned – we were meant to be here in 2023 and I didn’t make the start line. Today, I was imagining coming down that final mile and when I passed the 25-mile marker, even when I was absolutely dying, I was telling myself: ‘You can see the finish line now’.

“I was coming into this a little bit undercooked but I was just desperate to be on the start line and I didn’t want to make the same mistake again – doing too much mileage and then not making it.”

McColgan hopes this will represent the first of many marathons, with her focus now firmly on the roads rather than the track, and this debut has given her a very clear idea of what needs to be improved.

“I know there’s a lot more work to be done and my quads seized up very early today,” she added. “I think there’s a lot more conditioning, a lot more mileage and longer reps in my future but it’s a good stepping stone.

“I was a little bit disappointed with how I felt through halfway. I felt pretty rough, even through the first 10km, which surprised me. Both my quads seized up after around 20 miles and I thought ‘uh oh, I’ve still got a long way to go’ but the crowds were just insane.

“There were a few sketchy moments when I wasn’t sure I’d get [the Scottish record] but in terms of the time I am a bit disappointed. I do think I am capable of running sub 2:20 and that’s my goal. This is a really good stepping stone and hopefully I can do that in my next major – we’ll maybe look at Berlin or Chicago later in the year – but it’s still the Scottish record, and I’ve broken my mum’s PB at least. It’s not bad for my first effort.”

Behind McColgan in the battle of the Brits was Rose Harvey, who clocked the second-fastest time of her career in finishing ninth with 2:25:01. Phily Bowden was 11th in 2:30:28, with Holly Archer 13th in 2:39:45 on her marathon debut. After the injury problems that had forced her to miss the Paris Olympics, this time a calf problem forced Charlotte Purdue to withdraw just beyond the halfway point, which she had reached in 1:38:27.

Asked if she had been affected by the hot conditions, McColgan added: “I’m used to training in the heat. Being Scottish, I would have preferred it to be a couple of degrees cooler but the weather wasn’t on my mind at all – I was just so determined to put one foot in the other and get to the finish. But, if you look at all of the British athletes, I think everyone was a little bit off from where they wanted to be so maybe it did have a bit more of an impact than we thought.”

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