British distance runner Eilish McColgan has provided an update to her supporters following a severe toe injury she endured during the London Marathon. McColgan, the daughter of Scottish running legend Liz McColgan, finished seventh in the women's race with a time of 2:24:51.
After the event, McColgan disclosed that she suffered a toe injury midway through the race, forcing her to continue with blood seeping through her shoes. The 35-year-old described the sensation as feeling like her foot had exploded, adding that she could barely feel any pressure on her foot towards the end.
McColgan, a four-time Olympian, took to social media to counter misinformation suggesting her shoes caused the injury. She shared a photo of her London Marathon medal while recuperating on the beach, along with a detailed explanation of her condition.
In her update, McColgan said: "A toe update because a few people have been asking me. 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."
She added that her foot was very swollen, which may have contributed to the injury, and dismissed claims about her footwear: "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."
McColgan suggested that a swollen foot, possibly due to a rash that spread down her calves in the build-up to the race, may have led to the injury. Graphic images posted after the race showed that the skin on her fourth toe had entirely ripped away.
In the women's category, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa won the London Marathon with a remarkable time of 2:15:41. McColgan was the fastest British finisher, ahead of Rose Harvey, who placed ninth with 2:26:14.
Reflecting on the race, McColgan said: "Just not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister in my foot. It sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can say it is I felt like my foot just exploded. I just had this massive tear and I thought, what the hell is that? It was obviously pretty sore, but for it to happen quite early on, it panicked me a little bit. And yeah, I just felt like I was then running a bit funny. I couldn't feel pressure through my foot. Part of me was like, am I going to... It's a long way to make it to 26.2. I just started to hurt in different areas then as well. So I don't know if I'm like running funny through it, I assume. Especially I got to like 24 miles and my knee started playing up and sort of went on me a bit. And I thought, God, I can't get to 24 miles and not finish it at this point. I'm just disappointed with how my body sort of held up there."
