Our sponsored athlete, Eilish McColgan shares her hopes and ambitions for 2023, with the main one being the TCS London Marathon.
The new year is always awash with resolutions and ‘New Year, New Me!’ type mottos. But after the most memorable year of my life in 2022; I’d like some more of the same. More of 2022 please! However, despite not wanting any change - 2023 brings around an entirely new challenge for me. Something completely outside my comfort zone. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It’s daunting, yet invigorating - The TCS London Marathon!
I have known for a very long time that a marathon would be in my future. From a young age, my mum would tell me I had marathon tendencies from watching me in training, and this was backed up by British Athletics after my first physiological treadmill test. The results came back synonymous with the profile of a marathoner.
Honestly, it wasn’t particularly what I wanted to hear. I loved the feeling of being fast and running fast. Especially on the track. And mentally, the distance was the most challenging part - 26.2 miles.
Twenty-six miles!
I remember as a youngster thinking, ‘no way’. But over the years, we’ve gradually built up my training to take on the 5,000m, the 10,000m and into my first ever half marathon. Surprisingly, I’ve really enjoyed it. I never thought I would, but I enjoyed pushing myself over the half marathon and feeling that unique heaviness in my legs. It’s something you can only feel in distance races.
Mentally, I’ve become stronger too. Whilst a 5K event used to feel long to me, I now love racing the 10,000m on the track. It’s a distance that many find mentally draining, but I relish counting the laps.
Taking on the full marathon distance feels like the logical next step in my running career after a decade on the track.
At the age of 32, I am aware that time isn’t on my side. But as I watch the other female marathoners continue to improve and excel well into their late 30’s and early 40’s, it gives me a huge amount of motivation. Some may feel that I’ve left it too late to move to the marathon, but it just feels right to me.
I’m excited to test myself around the streets of London and be part of that bucket list experience that many of us look for. Because that is exactly what London provides. One of the best marathon experiences in the world and for that reason, I wanted London to be my debut.
This year’s field is beyond anything I’ve ever seen for a major marathon. World Record Holders, Olympic Champions, World Medallists, and something ridiculous like 10 women with personal best times under 2 hours 20. When you bear in mind that only one British athlete has EVER run under 2hr 20 mins - that woman being Paula Radcliffe - the start list is simply insane.
I know that I’m certainly throwing myself into the deep end. It’s the deepest women’s Marathon field ever assembled - but I’m excited, and honoured, to be on the start line amongst these women.
My first realistic goal is to finish. Having never tackled this distance before - finishing is the number one goal. A secondary aim would be to be competitive amongst the other British women. We have some incredible British athletes, really moving British marathon running up a level but I’d hope that with being competitive over the half marathon distance - I can transfer that to the full. I know that it won’t be easy but it’s a nice secondary goal for me to focus on. Thirdly, my mum has only one personal best faster than me now - the marathon. It was the Scottish Record before Steph Twell broke it, and so I’d like to bypass my mum’s PB time and bring the Scottish Record back into our family name.
The London Marathon will be a steppingstone for me. Dipping my toes into the water of what could potentially be the next part of my running career on the roads. If all goes well, I’d like to strive for a place on the GB team for the Paris Olympic Games.
If it doesn’t go to plan, we will go back to the drawing board, reassess, and look at my options. Will it be another marathon? Or do I move back to the 10,000m? For now, that is not in my thoughts. It’s all about London.
Winter hasn’t been particularly kind to me. I’ve had some challenges with injury and niggles that have disrupted my training. But after a jam packed 2022 - it didn’t come as a huge surprise. However, it’s left me a little behind on where I’d like to be. I delayed my first few races of the season and changed plans. Instead, we jetted out to my first altitude camp of the year to the USA. It is a full month earlier than scheduled, but I want to give myself the best chance of being fit and ready for racing.
I hope to open my 2023 season with a half marathon and maybe even a 10K next month. But with temperatures hitting minus 21 degrees in Colorado just last week - it has been a shock to the system to say the least. I am constantly reminding myself that nothing worthwhile comes easy.
However, the beginning of 2022 was challenging, yet the year brought me memories of a lifetime. I have no doubt that 2023 will bring its own problems. I am ready for those. But I am also preparing for an entirely new challenge. One that just happens to be exactly 26.2 miles long.