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Eilish McColgan came close to taking her mother’s 10,0000-metre Scottish record on Saturday with a 30:58.94 performance. Perhaps let that be notice of more to come from the 30-year-old Dundee native. It was close, at less than two seconds shy of Liz’s 30:57.07 run. Eilish finished third in The Ten meet in California, which was a strong performance, having entered on short notice — as well as a 17 second personal best.

Liz McColgan set the record in 1991 in Hengelo, the Netherlands at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games.

Eilish told Athletics Illustrated, “Obviously [I am] happy to break 31-minutes after a long journey over here and with the race popping up so last minute. I would have loved to run faster and crack my mum’s Scottish record but I’m sure it will come before the end of the year.”

There are few opportunities to get in a competitive 10,000m race and especially during the pandemic; the schedule is even more scarce.

“Certainly, didn’t expect to be racing track this early in the season but last year taught me to make the most of every opportunity as you never know when you will get the chance to race! It’s given me a lot of confidence, that I can take a chunk off my time if I get another chance to race a 10,000m in the summer.”

At The Ten, McColgan finished third behind Elise Cranny who clocked a 30:47.42 and fellow American Karissa Schweizer who finished in 30:47.99. Both are Bowerman Track Club team members. The top-five in the race finished under the Tokyo Olympic standard of 31:25.

McColgan has demonstrated good range having run as fast as 4:00.97 in the 1500m in June of 2019. She also ran an outstanding road 10-mile finishing in 51:38, which is just 38 seconds off Sonia O’Sullivan’s Great south Run course record. It was McColgan’s second consecutive victory there. At the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships in October 2019, she clocked a personal best of 14:46.17, which bettered her own national record of 14:48.49 from 2017.

“Upcoming plans are a little up in the air,” added McColgan, when asked about her spring and summer plans. “I’m going to chat with my mum later this evening and my partner Michael to decide what races to do next. There are a few options which is great. Possibly another 10 in Texas or a half-marathon in Atlanta. Then I’ll get up to altitude as we haven’t had an altitude camp since October, so hoping that will help me push on for the summer season.”

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