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As discussed with Eilish McColgan in July of 2019, the Scottish runner will be moving up to the marathon from her specialty the 5,000-metre distance. During the interview she told Athletics Illustrated that she will move up after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I’ll definitely be looking to run a marathon after the Tokyo Olympics. I feel like that will be a great place to move on into something a little different and to challenge myself in new ways!”
She told the BBC recently that she will move up to the marathon for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
She will have to qualify, which means that she will make the attempt after the 5,000m or 10,000m event during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which is now taking place in 2021.
“For the following Olympic Games I’d hope to challenge for a spot on the marathon team.”
She is following in the footstep of her mother who dominated during the 1990s over the distance. Liz McColgan held several Scottish and UK records, some of which Eilish has recently taken.
McColgan-Nuttall (Lynch) was competitive internationally over the 3,000m to 10,000m distances as well as the marathon and won gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Track and Field Championships in the 10,00m. New York, Tokyo, and London Marathons from 1991 to 1996 holding the Scottish record for 22 years until Steph Twell broke it last year.
Her father Peter McColgan was also an international athlete who competed in the 3,000m steeplechase for Northern Ireland and also toed-the-line for Great Britain in the 1991 Tokyo meet.
Eilish is coached by her mother.
She competed in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games and also competed in the 2014 Glasgow and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. She earned a silver medal in the 2018 Berlin European Championships in the 5,000m event.
In October, she took her mother’s 10-mile Scottish record at the Great South Run.
“It’s always been in my plans to gradually move up in distances but this race definitely gives me confidence. I’ll look to do the 10,000m next year and see how things go. Further down the line – perhaps after Tokyo – I’ll look to move up to the marathon.”
In July of 2019 she ran the 10,000m in the time of 31.16.76, a new personal best.
Eilish has the Scottish 5,000m record at 14:48.49, while Liz still owns the 10,000m record at 30:57.07. Twell’s marathon record is 2:26:40.
