Eilish McColgan expects to break Paula Radcliffe’s 22-year-old British record in the London Marathon – but not on her debut.
The reigning Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion will run her maiden 26.2-mile race in April, two years after she expected to compete in the iconic event on the streets of London.
Injury put paid to her 2023 plan and the Scot feels “rushing” her marathon training contributed to the injuries that meant she was unable to run for nearly six months.
The four-time Olympian says she needs to settle in to this “different chapter” of her career before she will be able to attack Radcliffe’s mark of two hours 15 minutes 25 seconds.
“It’s so unrealistic to think I’m going to go in and break Paula Radcliffe’s record on my first attempt,” said the 34-year-old.
“That’s nonsense. It just isn’t going to happen. But do I think I’m capable of getting down to those times in the future? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I was.
“But I’m playing more of a long game, and just taking things month by month and year by year rather than trying to rush things.”
McColgan believes she was in “the best shape of her life” before she was sidelined, having just broken Radcliffe’s 21-year-old British 10,000 record and improving her own British half-marathon mark in Berlin.
She eventually had knee surgery and while her focus is now on road racing, the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – where there will be no road events – remains in the back of her mind.
“I learned a lot from 2023. Now I just want to make sure that I build things up gradually, do things properly, and I just want longevity in my career,” she said.
“I still believe that this next Olympic cycle I can be at my best. I still think I can get faster over 5k and 10k.
“But really the marathon is a long-term project. I am going to just try to learn as much as I can from this process, and then try to implement that over the next few years to see how I bridge the gap towards a 2:09 or whatever crazy time they’ve run by then.”
