Eilish McColgan produced an incredible record-breaking London Marathon debut as she aced her first attempt at the iconic race on Sunday.
The 34-year-old reigning Commonwealth 10,000m champion had been due to make her marathon debut here in the English capital in 2023, until injury forced her to withdraw.
The two years of extra wait time were absolutely worth it though as she duly smashed the 2:26:40 Scottish record held by Steph Twell. She also ran faster than her illustrious mum Liz – winner of this race back in 1996 – who had a personal best of 2:26:52.
Eilish finished well inside both of those marks as she came home in 2:24:25 – a terrific debut and good enough for an excellent eighth place in the Elite women’s race behind Ethiopian winner Tigst Assefa. She was also just ahead of Rose Harvey to be the first British finisher.
Beforehand the Scottish star had admitted she was scared of the big race, having never taken on this challenge before. She certainly did not race scared with a fantastic first time over the distance.
Eilish McColgan time splits
A look inside the numbers show Eilish producing remarkable consistency throughout the race. She was through the half in 1:10:44 and maintained excellent numbers right through to the finish.
| Split | Time | Diff | min/km | km/h | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 00:16:27 | 16:27 | 03:18 | 18.24 | 9 |
| 10K | 00:33:07 | 16:40 | 03:20 | 18.00 | 8 |
| 15K | 00:50:02 | 16:55 | 03:23 | 17.74 | 8 |
| 20K | 01:07:00 | 16:58 | 03:24 | 17.67 | 8 |
| Half | 01:10:44 | 03:44 | 03:25 | 17.63 | 8 |
| 25K | 01:24:01 | 13:17 | 03:25 | 17.65 | 7 |
| 30K | 01:41:24 | 17:23 | 03:29 | 17.25 | 7 |
| 35K | 01:59:02 | 17:38 | 03:32 | 17.02 | 8 |
| 40K | 02:16:44 | 17:42 | 03:33 | 16.95 | 8 |
| Finish | 02:24:25 | 07:41 | 03:31 | 17.13 | 8 |
London Marathon Results – Elite Women
Sunday April 27, 2025
- 1. Tigst Assefa (ETH) – 2:15:50
- 2. Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) – 2:18:43
- 3. Sifan Hassan (NED) – 2:18:59
- 4. Haven Hailu Desse (ETH) – 2:19:00
- 5. Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) – 2:22:32
- 6. Stella Chesang (UGA) – 2:22:42
- 7. Sofiia Yaremchuk (ITA) – 2:23:14
- 8. Eilish McColgan (GBR) – 2:24:25
- 9. Rose Harvey (GBR) – 2:25:01
- 10. Susanna Sullivan (USA) – 2:29:30
