Eilish McColgan: 'It felt like my foot exploded during London Marathon'

Eilish McColgan said it felt like her “foot exploded” and was “covered in blood” during the TCS London Marathon on Sunday.

The 10,000m gold medallist crossed the line in two hours, 24 minutes and 51 seconds, but just after halfway through the run, she suffered a bloody injury.

Pictures from the race show the runner in action, with a big bloody stain on her right shoe.

“I had a really, really bad blister in my foot, and it sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can say it is that it felt like my foot exploded,” said McColgan.

“Like I just had this massive tear and I thought, what the hell is that?”

The Commonwealth Games champion, who made her long-awaited marathon debut last year, finished seventh overall, one place up from last year – despite being 26 seconds slower.

McColgan, 35, said she was “frustrated” not to beat her time from last year, but admitted that she “panicked” early after feeling the effects of her foot injury.

“It was obviously quite sore and it happened early on, but it panicked me a little bit and yeah, I just felt from then on I was running a bit funny,” she said.

“I couldn’t really feel pressure through my foot, so, yeah, part of me was like it’s a long way to make it to 26.2m. And yeah, it just started to hurt in other areas as well.

“Especially I got to 24 miles, and my knee started playing up and almost went on me a bit,” she added. “I was like, c’mon, I can’t get to 24 miles and not finish at this point.

“Yeah, I’m just disappointed how my body sort of held up there, done a half in those shoes, done a 10k in those shoes, so I don’t know why today my foot decided to be indifferent, especially that early, it was just after the halfway point.

“I was just covered in blood. I had to go see the doctor straight after, I just couldn’t put any pressure on my foot, and it was just totally covered in blood.

“Yeah, just frustrating, frustrated just to run the same sort of time as last year on my debut.”

McColgan will be hoping she can fully heal before her next goal, representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.