The 35-year-old daughter of British running star Liz McColgan still managed 7th place.
Despite her injury, Eilish McColgan finished just 26 seconds slower than her personal best set last year.
Picture:
Getty
Four-time Olympian Eilish McColgan finished the London Marathon with her foot covered in blood after it “exploded” halfway through the race.
Despite this, the reigning 10,000 metres Commonwealth Games champion finished seventh in the elite women’s race, crossing the line in 2:24:51 on Sunday.
Her time was 26 seconds slower than her marathon debut last year, when she finished eighth in 2:24:25 as the top British finisher.
Speaking after the race, the Scottish runner explained how the injury occurred. She said, “Just 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 say it is I felt like my foot just exploded”.
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“I just had this massive tear and I thought, what the hell is that? It was obviously pretty sore, but for it to happen quite early on, it panicked me a little bit.”
“And yeah, I just felt like I was then running a bit funny. I couldn’t feel pressure through my foot. Part of me was like, am I going to…It’s a long way to make it to 26.2.”
“I just started to hurt in different areas then as well. So I don’t know if I’m like running funny through it, I assume.”
“Especially I got to like 24 miles and my knee started playing up and sort of went on me a bit, and I thought, ‘God, I can’t get to 24 miles and not finish it at this point’.”
“I’m just disappointed with how my body sort of held up there.”
The 35-year-old suffered an injury halfway through the race.
Picture:
Alamy
After seeing a doctor following the race, the Dundee-born athlete said she had never had a problem with her running shoes.:
“I’ve worn them all the time,” she said. “I don’t know why today my foot decided to be indifferent.“
“But I was just covered in blood. I mean, I had to go to see the doctor after the race, I just couldn’t put any pressure through my foot. And it was just, yeah, totally covered in blood.”
“It’s just frustrating. A little bit frustrating to run the same sort of time as I did last year, my debut.”
McColgan insists that with the Commonwealth Games coming up in Glasgow in July, she will recover first, then decide whether or not to compete.