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The long-awaited marathon debut by Scotland’s Eilish McColgan will have to continue. She has suffered a knee injury during preparation and will have to bow out.
She told media Friday, “I was sort of hopeful, to be honest. I had a bit of knee bursitis back in February—March time and it was something I could run through. But I couldn’t run through this. I’ve tried, trust me, but it has just gotten to the point where it is not going to be feasible to run a marathon this weekend.
“There have been a few factors that have come together like a bad storm in the past three weeks and the knee issue has been the final crack in the armour. I’m disappointed and know I’m ready to run a good marathon. That is what makes it hard to not be there on the start line.
“As an athlete, I wanted to compete, but I’m a firm believer these things happen for a reason. There will be another London Marathon in my future where, hopefully, I will be able to perform well.”
Some news regarding London Marathon this weekend as sadly I won't be racing! 😥 pic.twitter.com/rjpKYWcPWx
— Eilish McColgan (@EilishMccolgan) April 21, 2023
McColgan debut was highly anticipated as she has set a number of Scottish, British and European road and track records over the past two years. And, following in the footsteps of her mother and coach Liz McColgan-Nuttall, she wants to do well in the marathon too.
Her best over the half marathon distance is a national record at 1:05.43 from three weeks ago. Meanwhile, her 10K road record set last May, eclipsed Paula Radcliffe’s British record with her 30:19 performance in Manchester — it is also a European record.
Also, a late scratch is Canadian record holder Natasha Wodak who clocked a 2:23:12 performance during the 2022 Berlin Marathon in September, to better Malindi Elmore’s national record of 2:24:50 from Houston 2020. Wodak of Vancouver is out due to a period of injury, followed by sickness, which hasn’t allowed her to train enough to put in the performance she would like in London. The 41-year-old is planning to compete in the Budapest World Athletics Championships in August.
Wodak’s marathon national record follows her 8K national best of 25:28, former national 10,000m record of 31:41.59 and former national record over the half-marathon at 69:41.
Elmore, a fellow British Columbian with Wodak and occasional training partner, will be racing Gifu, Japan this weekend in the Gifu Half Marathon.
