THE MOTHER OF ALL MARATHONS! Eilish McColgan beats mum Liz's personal best on her debut at distance in London
Eilish McColgan couldn't conceal her pride after beating her mother's personal best on her London Marathon debut - and setting a new Scottish record into the bargain.
In her first race over 26.2 miles, the 34-year-old finished eighth in a time of 2hr 24min 25 sec - a place ahead of fellow Brit Rose Harvey.
That was more than two minutes faster than the best time of her mum Liz - who won here in 1996 - as well as breaking Steph Twell's previous Scottish marker of 2:26:40 set in Frankfurt in 2019.
'I'm really proud of myself today,' admitted McColgan, who was ruled out of the London race two years ago with a knee injury which later required surgery.
'I'm happy to break my mum's record. That was the main goal for me. I've broken every one of my mum's PBs now, so that was a really special thing to do within the family.'
Sunday's feat was quite the achievement for McColgan, who had claimed last week she was primarily aiming to complete her debut with 'no mishaps' but admitted to having a couple of 'loose goals'.
Now the 10,000m Commonwealth gold winner has Paula Radcliffe's record in her sights as she seeks to send more times tumbling in the marathon.
'After knee surgery, there was a lot of confidence to build back,' said McColgan. 'There was a mental block. You always have people saying: 'Oh, she'll never be able to get round a marathon', so I've done that at least, but there is a lot more to come.
'I'd love to run a sub-2:20 before the end of the year. No British woman has done that since Paula Radcliffe. I do believe I'm capable of doing it.'
The women's race was won by Ethiopia's Tigst Assega, the Olympic silver medallist, with a world record for a women's only field of 2:15:50.
Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei was second and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan came third.
In the men's event, Kenya's Sebastian Sawe triumphed on his London debut in a time of 2:02:27. Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda finished second in his maiden marathon, with last year's winner Alexander Mutiso Munyao third and record four-time champion Eliud Kipchoge sixth.
Scottish legend Liz McColgan back in 1996 when she won the London Marathon
Mahamed Mahamed was the first Brit home in ninth and Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee was the next home finisher, coming 14th in a very respectable 2:11:08 in his first marathon.
'There were a lot more dark moments than in Paris,' admitted 27-year-old Yee. 'There was a lot of pain there.
'I had to keep fighting through that and I am proud to get to the finish line. To be the second Brit is pretty special.'
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