There are finishes, and then there are finishes like this.
Through the noise of record-breaking headlines and historic times on the streets of London, one story cut through for entirely different reasons — a performance built on grit, pain, and sheer refusal to stop.
Eilish McColgan didn’t just complete the London Marathon. She dragged herself over the line.
And she did it with a foot she says felt like it had “exploded.”
The Team GB star, making just her second appearance at the iconic race, etched her name into British marathon history on Sunday. Crossing the line in seventh place, McColgan clocked an incredible 2:24:51 — a time that made her the fastest British woman in the field.
It was a statement run. But behind it was a battle that unfolded step by painful step.
McColgan, whose mother Liz famously won the same race back in 1996, had already proven her marathon credentials with a Scottish record on debut. This time, she came within 26 seconds of that mark.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Because midway through the race, everything changed.
“Not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister and it sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can really describe it is that it felt like my foot exploded,” McColgan said, per the Daily Mail.
“It panicked me a little bit and from then on I was running funny – I couldn’t really put pressure on my foot so I began to hurt in other areas as well.”
What started as discomfort quickly spiralled into something far more serious.
The blister tore open, leaving her struggling to maintain her stride. With every mile, the impact spread — her running form altered, pressure shifted, and new pain began to emerge.
Yet stopping was never an option.
She said: “I got to 24 miles and my knee started playing up and almost went on me. I was like: ‘I can’t get to 24 miles and not finish’. I don’t know why my foot decided to be indifferent today. I was covered in blood. I had to go and see the doctor after my race because I couldn’t put any pressure through my foot. I took my sock off and the skin just fell out.”
By the time she crossed the line, McColgan’s shoe was soaked through — the result of running over half the race with a severe open wound.
The full extent of the injury only became clear afterwards.
In a post-race update, she revealed just how brutal the damage was.
“A toe update because a few people have been asking me,” McColgan said. “It’s all good, the only way I can describe it is it looks like a scalpel or a knife has sliced off the bottom of my toe.
“So it is going to take a little bit of time to heal, but I can walk today and just keep it padded or what not. Biggest thing is trying to keep infection out, because it is essentially an open wound.”
McColgan continued: “My foot is very, very swollen. We think that is maybe why it happened in the first place. A lot of misinformation online about me wearing shoes that were too small or too big, or wearing new shoes, or socks for the first time. It’s all nonsense.
“I wore those shoes to break a national record, European record earlier in the year, I have worn them for half marathons to set one of my fastest times. It was nothing to do with the shoes, it was just a freak incident.”
Despite the severity, McColgan was quick to shut down speculation surrounding the cause, making it clear this wasn’t down to poor equipment choices.
Instead, it was simply one of those moments — the kind that can derail even the best-prepared athletes.
She also hinted at contributing factors, including swelling in the foot, potentially linked to a rash she had been dealing with in the build-up to the race.
But even with everything going against her, she refused to step off the course.
Her determination ensured she not only finished, but did so as the leading British woman — a remarkable achievement considering the circumstances.
Up ahead, the race itself delivered history on a global scale.
Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa stormed to victory in the women’s event, setting a new world record with a stunning time of 2:15:41. In the men’s race, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe also made headlines, recording a world-best 1:59:30.
Yet for many watching, it was McColgan’s resilience that defined the day.
A race that could have ended in frustration instead became a testament to endurance.
Now, the focus shifts to recovery.
With the Commonwealth Games on the horizon in July, McColgan will turn her attention to healing — both physically and mentally — after one of the most demanding performances of her career.
Featured image credit: Eilish McColgan / Instagram
