Eilish McColgan tells us why she is out of London, part 1 is injury, part 2 is sponsor conflict, What year is this?

What year is this?

London Marathon has had more athletes pull out of their race than I can remember over the past 20 years, and then, Eilish McColgan adds that a sponsor conflict means that the London Marathon will not let her compete? How did Hugh Brasher not figure this one out, as Eilish McColgan is a big British draw for the event? She has not had a new sponsor since before Berlin Half Marathon.

Here is Eilish McColgan’s statement:

“Very sad to share the news that I won’t be racing the London Marathon.😥

The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful, but I always said I’d share the highs and lows!

It was well documented that I suffered an injury to my hamstring in the last 1km of the Berlin Half. Sadly, it wasn’t just a ‘cramp’… but a 5.5cm, grade 3 tear! (I had a similar hamstring tear in 2017 – also whilst racing during my period, which I doubt is a coincidence, but perhaps bad luck!)

Despite being told no running for 4 weeks, I got back running far sooner than the doctors expected and felt confident in my progress for London with a solid session and final long run under my belt in Font Romeu.

I was then hit with a further roadblock, having been told I wouldn’t be allowed to race due to a sponsor clash between myself and London Marathon’s sponsor. I do not doubt that the major marathon contracts will be updated in future years (most likely once the bigger-named athletes are involved.) But it needs to change to give athletes the chance to be financially stable. And they certainly should not be restricted as to what races they can or cannot do purely because of a logo on their chest!

As you can imagine, juggling the above and coming back from injury has been incredibly stressful. I’ve tried to push things and, as a result, suffered from a knee issue this week. Thankfully, it’s nothing too serious (ligament/tendon/bone are all very healthy), but I have a lot of swelling and an impingement under the kneecap, which has become very painful. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to use my fitness in another marathon.

I’ve been in tough places before. It’s a sport. It happens. But these past few weeks, I’ve felt an overwhelming amount of pressure to try and keep everyone happy and try to make everyone happy, from sponsors to race organizers, agents, journalists, and even Michael & my family. I feel like life has swallowed me up and spat me out.

I know that making the right decision now will benefit me in the longer term. I know I’m ready to run a fast marathon, but we will have to wait a little longer for those stars to align. And when they do, I promise it will be worth the wait! 🌟”

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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