‘I’ve been so close’ – McColgan targets Great North Run win

Great North Run

Date: Sunday, September 7th, 2018 Course: Newcastle to South Shields

After twice coming close to imitating her mother with victory, Eilish McColgan hopes the Great North Run this year will prove third-place.

The 34-year-old Scot defeated Liz McColgan’s best time last year on the route from Newcastle to South Shields.

However, the 2021 runner-up finished the race five seconds behind Mary Ngugi-Cooper, who had previously completed a stunning six-athlete sprint that year.

Everyone would genuinely enjoy a victory, of course. It’s a truly iconic race. My mother won the race, and legends of the sport have all won it, McColgan said to BBC Sport.

“I’ve been so close to each other.” In the end, I’d love to visit and claim the victory, which would be incredible. But I am aware that there is always a lot of talent.

On Sunday’s start line, along with 60, 000 other runners, will be joined by Kenyan New York marathon champion Sheila Chepkirui and two-time Great North Run champion Vivian Cheruiyot.

In the elite men’s race, Belgium’s Bashir Abdi and Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba, the country’s defending champion of the 2024 London Marathon, and the country’s Alex Mutiso Munyao, the country’s record-holder, will face off in the elite men’s race.

Following knee surgery, McColgan had a significant year already, with the marathon debut she had in London in April coming up in two years.

The British record-holder for 5K, 10K, and half marathons has been training at altitude in Font Romeu for the past two months, and the record holder has admitted that it felt like a “weight lifted” after a “really challenging” period.

“I just needed to get around a marathon and feel like I could do it,” McColgan said, noting that I never wanted it to become more of a mental illness.

After recovering from an injury at the height of her career, McColgan learned to trust her body once more. Between 2021 and 2023, she won Commonwealth 10 000m and national records on the track and road.

Her cautious training for the London Marathon this year paid off, breaking her mother’s Scottish record in two hours and 24 minutes, despite having to take a six-month break to recover from her knee problem.

When you’re in the best shape of your life, you’re always just a few inches away from pushing a little too hard, McColgan said.

McColgan has been chosen to compete in the November New York Marathon, but her selection is not guaranteed as she transitions to this most important year of her career.

With Paula Radcliffe’s British record of 2: 15: 25, on her radar, the immediate goal is to complete a sub-2:20 marathon before determining how much lower she can go.

According to McColgan, “I have broken all the other national records, and she has said there is no reason why breaking the British marathon record is not possible,” added McColgan.

The 13-mile Great North Run, which runs annually, begins in Newcastle city center, travels across the River Tyne, passes through Gateshead, and ends in South Shields by the sea.

Start times:

wheelchair at 10:20 BST-Elite

10: 25 BST – Elite women

BST 10:27 – Visually impaired