Eilish McColgan returns to racing at the Big Half
British half-marathon record-holder Eilish McColgan will compete in the Big Half on September 6, her first race in five months after finishing seventh at
Eilish McColgan, the British half-marathon record-holder, will race at the Big Half on September 6. The 35-year-old distance runner last competed at the London Marathon in April, where she finished seventh overall with a time of 2:24:51.
That performance was 26 seconds outside her Scottish record of 2:24:25. McColgan was the fastest British female athlete in the elite field but suffered a toe injury during the race, battling through blood and blisters to finish.
Running the second half of the London Marathon entirely on her own, McColgan noticed blood on her right shoe and described the sensation to the world's media as feeling like "my foot exploded". She later stated that the injury caused her to alter her stride, leading to knee pain that almost gave way at 24 miles.
After seeking medical attention, specialists diagnosed an undetected foot fracture. Despite initial hopes of competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, she withdrew from the 10,000m event due to insufficient recovery time.
McColgan acknowledged the setback, saying "the good news is I'm back running but the bad news is I've simply run out of time to get myself, and my toe, back into spikes". Following the diagnosis, she engaged in warm weather training in Dubai before spending several weeks training at altitude in Font-Romeu in the Pyrenees.
As the British half-marathon record-holder with a personal best of 65:43, McColgan aims to regain the Big Half title she won two years ago. Her main challenger could be reigning champion Jess Warner-Judd, who has a personal best of 67:07 and defeated Abbie Donnelly by 49 seconds at the previous edition of the race.
Lily Partridge, a former winner of the Big Half in 2020, is also returning to the event with a personal best of 1:09:52 over the 13.1-mile distance.
On the men's side, Jack Rowe leads the elite field and is targeting a fourth consecutive Big Half title, which would surpass Sir Mo Farah's record. Rowe, currently fifth on the UK half-marathon all-time list, recently set personal bests in the 5km, half-marathon and marathon.
At the London Marathon, Rowe placed 14th overall in 2:07:47, having previously run 60:17 for 11th place in New York City in March and 13:37 over 5km in Battersea in July.
Other British male athletes in the field include Phil Sesemann, who recorded a personal best of 61:21 at the Berlin Half Marathon this year, and Weynay Ghebresilasie, who finished as the third-fastest British man at the London Marathon ahead of both Sesemann and Rowe.
Andy Butchart, the current Scottish record holder in the 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m, will also compete after placing 13th in the 10,000m and 18th in the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Zak Mahamed is set to make his Big Half debut following an impressive personal best of 60:46 achieved in Barcelona earlier this year.
The elite wheelchair competition will be headlined by David Weir, who returns in pursuit of a fifth Big Half title and aims to break his own course record of 46:58, set last year. Eden Rainbow-Cooper, victorious at the Boston Marathon in April, will also contest the wheelchair race.
