There is one mark that’s been at the forefront of every female British marathon runner’s mind for over two decades.
In 2003, Paula Radcliffe set a British marathon record of 2 hours 15 minutes 25 seconds and in the 22 years since, no British woman has ever bettered that mark, which was a new world record at the time. Indeed, no one has even come close, with the next best time by a Brit a whole six minutes slower than Radcliffe’s mark.
There is, however, according to the woman who has had such a firm grip on that record for over two decades, one candidate who has the potential to come closer to that record than any other, and perhaps even beat it.
That runner who is as likely, if not more likely, to finally break the longstanding British record is Eilish McColgan and given the prediction is coming from Radcliffe herself, it holds more weight than most.
McColgan may have been a world-class runner for well over a decade but she remains a novice in marathon terms.
The 34-year-old Dundonian made her marathon debut earlier this year, in April’s London Marathon, and on her first attempt at 26.2 miles, set a new Scottish record of 2 hours 24 minutes 25 seconds.
It was a debut that had been eagerly anticipated given McColgan had initially planned to run her first marathon in 2023 before several injury setbacks caused postponement after postponement of her maiden marathon appearance, Finally, though, she got to the start line in April.
McColgan’s Scottish record-beating run, which also bettered her mum, Liz McColgan’s, best-ever marathon time, was particularly impressive when taking into account both her disrupted preparation, and the fact she ran almost the entirety of the race alone having been separated from the leading pack in the very early stages.
Radcliffe was an interested observer of McColgan’s marathon debut and she admits she was extremely impressed with how McColgan equipped herself over the 26.2 miles in London.
“Eilish’s preparation was maybe a little bit short on volume because of the injury issues but she was really smart in taking her time to get on top of everything and not to do a marathon until she was healthy,” Radcliffe says.
“In London, she spent so much of the race on her own and in no man's land so she should be proud of how well she did given those circumstances because, of course, if you're running alone, it's not going to be as quick as if you're running with others.
“I ran alone in the marathon a few times but most of the times I did that, it was because I was leading and that's a very different feeling to when you know the race is moving away ahead of you.
“So the way Eilish did that race is much tougher than any time I did it.
“Ahead of London, she’s been pretty vocal about having set herself the target of bettering her mum's time so to get her mum's record, and the Scottish record, was very good for her first marathon.”
Radcliffe and McColgan may have been competing in different eras but the pair share several similarities including their mentalities and the obstacles they’ve encountered in their careers, namely injuries.
Radcliffe was famous for pushing herself to her physical and psychological limit and McColgan is made from the same mould, which she demonstrated in her gold medal-winning run in the 10,000m final at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
And with Radcliffe’s career being ended by injuries, she can empathise with McColgan’s injury challenges over the past few years which have seen her race schedule seriously disrupted.
McColgan has now rediscovered full fitness but it is, says Radcliffe, a razor-thin line between fitness and injury for all elite marathon runners.
“Injuries are part and parcel of being a marathon runner and most marathon build-ups will have niggles. It's about working out where the line is between a serious injury and a niggle,” the former world champion says.
“I loved the mental challenge of the marathon, though, and I think Eilish will too because I think she's the type of person who does relish that.
“On race day, I did feel like it was a little bit of a game in terms of you're hurting, but how long can you ignore it and keep going?”
The next milestone for McColgan, now she has her hands on the Scottish record is, of course, Radcliffe’s British record.
To take the Englishwoman’s record, McColgan, whose next competitive outing will be at next month's Great North Run over 13.1 miles, will need to slice nine minutes from her debut marathon time which is, clearly, a sizeable chunk.
It’s not an improvement that’ll happen overnight but Radcliffe is confident that as the Scot gains experience over the distance, she’ll get closer and closer to the fabled mark.
“I think, and Eilish would probably agree, that at the moment she's still more comfortable and more solid over the 10k and the half marathon distance. But that's absolutely not to say that in the future that can't change,” says Radcliffe.
“I hit the ground running with the marathon - it went amazing the very first time I ran it but that's probably unusual because you look at other really successful marathon runners like Haile Gebrselassie or Paul Tergat and they took a while to settle into the marathon.
“After my first marathon, in my lifetime, I only improved about three minutes whereas other people improved a lot more from their marathon debut so everyone’s very different.
“What I've noticed with Eilish, over the years, is it can take her a bit of time to learn a new distance so she just needs a little bit more time to feel really comfortable with the marathon.
“She’s now experienced the marathon and I think Eilish has got as good a shot, if not a better shot, than almost anyone else at breaking my British record.
“I don't think it's unachievable for her - the thing about the marathon is getting it right on the day.
“I think she can go quicker than she did in London so it's just a question of how much quicker.”
