by Stuart WeirEilish McColgan’s first marathon finish in 2:24:25 resulted in her taking the British women’s marathon title and breaking the Scottish record – previously held by Steph Twell’s (2:26:40 in 2019) not to mention the 2:26:52 marathon best of her mother and coach, 1996 London winner Liz McColgan and finishing in 8th place overall. After the race she talked about the experience.
How was it?
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 know there’s a lot more work to be done and my quads seized up very early today. 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. I was hoping it would be a lot smoother than that. 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.
Just talk a little about the race. You went with the leaders and then dropped back. What were you thinking?
Yeah, it was a little bit too hot pace for me. I set off a little bit hot and I paid the price for that towards the end. It’s a big, big learning curve for me. The whole experience was just incredible, but it was a lot tougher than I thought I would feel. I’m really proud to have finished today That was a very, very tough run. There’s lots to learn. There’s a lot of work to be done, but first marathon done and dusted and I can call myself a marathoner. 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 the start line. But as I said, it’s been really good learning experience. I know that there’s a lot more work to be done.
What did you learn from it?
And probably just it. Yeah, the conditioning of it. I’ve got a lot more. As I said, I came into a little. Bit underprepared so I knew it was gonna get tough now. I think I’ve got a lot to do in the endurance side of things. The exciting thing is that I know the training I’ve done and what I have not been able to do. I know there is more to come. But the biggest thing for me today is keeping my drinks on board – no highs and lows or crashes and that’s a really good learning experience for the next one as well.
Was the heat a challenge?
I’m used to training in the heat so it wasn’t a problem for me. 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.
How important is the Scottish record for you?
Yeah, I’m really proud of today. There’s a few sketchy moments in there where I wasn’t sure I was gonna get to the end, but the crowds were absolutely insane. We had Scottish flags all around the course. Bagpipes at one point. So it was pretty cool. Obviously I’m very lucky a home Commonwealth Games, but it was like that the whole way round. Charlie Purdue had said to me beforehand there are certain sections of half way around the course, and how you can’t even hear. When I was really struggling, the crowd were just keeping me going and going and going. I had no choice to stop or give up because yeah, they were cheering me the whole way. Time-wise I am a bit disappointed. I do think I am capable of running sub 2:20 and that’s my goal.– 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.
And what do you plan for the summer?
Just to get stronger, I mean, I came into this a little bit under-prepared than I would like and I knew that the mileage and the sort of volume was gonna get me at some point. So yeah, I’ve just got a lot more training to go and then hopefully build towards an autumn marathon. This is a really good stepping stone and hopefully I can do better in my next major – we’ll maybe look at Berlin or Chicago later in the year. I haven’t decided which one yet, but to be honest, the ultimate goal be try and break 2:20 before the end of the year. That would be a big, big goal for me.
Watch Stuart’s interview with Eilish at Scottish Athletics
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HI1vHKg_oU0
