Distance runner believes she can challenge Paula Radcliffe’s British 10,000m record of 30:01.09 and if she does it in Eugene it could put her in the medal mix

So far Eilish McColgan’s season has been full of dramatic highs and lows. A severe bout of Covid in the spring left her wondering if her season would be a total write-off. Further illness caused her to miss the UK Championships too. Yet when she has been fit she has enjoyed British record-breaking runs on the roads at 5km, 10km and half-marathon. In her only track race of 2022 in Hengelo in early June she ran out a runaway winner at 10,000m in 30:19.02.

Speaking from her altitude training camp in Colorado Springs on the eve of the World Championships, she feels she can be competitive in Eugene and, if she fulfils her goal of giving Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing national 10,000m record of 30:01.09 a scare, it could put her in a position to challenge for a medal in one of the strongest events on the programme.

“I think I’m on the upward trend and I think I can get close to 30 minutes again which is a big aim for me,” she says. “I’m not going in with any focus on medals or positions because I can’t control what the other women can do. There are some women in there who are, on a good day, probably capable of running 28-something for a 10km and I have to be realistic. But at the same time some of the top names aren’t in the shape they were in last year.”

McColgan points to Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia. “When they are at their best they are the best in history, never mind the best right now. So for me if I can get myself in 30-minute shape then I’m giving myself the best chance to place as highly as I can,” she says.

“I’d like to be a hell of a lot more competitive and that’s the exciting part for me. I don’t think they are out of my reach as much any more. In previous years I wouldn’t be competitive in any way, shape or form but now I feel I should be in the mix and at least be competitive within the race.

“I’d love to be going into the Worlds with a lot more track races under my belt. But sometimes those are the cards you’re dealt. Similarly picking up another bug three weeks before the champs is not ideal and I could have done without that happening but I’ve had to adapt and do the best I can under the circumstances.”

McColgan ran a British half-marathon record of 66:26 at the RAK Half at the start of the year. She then clocked a British 5km record of 14:45 at an event organised by her sponsors, ASICS, in late April before taking down another of Radcliffe’s records, the road 10km, at the Great Manchester Run with 30:19 in May. This follows her 5000m track British record from last year when she ran 14:28.55 in Oslo.

In Hengelo last month she was on pace to run 30 minutes dead for 10,000m at halfway in an extraordinary front-running performance in windy conditions where she ran alone for 25 laps with many of the world’s top east Africans, including Gidey, a long way behind.

The gusty conditions caught up with her and she clocked 30:19.02. Still, it was a tremendous run and gave her further confidence that she can get close to 30 minutes in good conditions.

“I thought ‘this is my one chance’ to race a 10,000m before the World Champs,” she reflects. “I went there thinking it will be a 29min race. I thought ‘this is great, I’m in 29-something shape and can break 30 minutes’. I couldn’t wait to get dragged around to a PB and was super excited.

“Then on the day of the race the weather was so bad there was no way the other women were going to go off hard. But there were Kenyans and Ugandans who weren’t racing the Ethiopian trials so there was no reason for them not to cagey. We all needed times to show current forms. So I thought I’d have to take out the first couple of laps to get it going and then someone would get itchy and come past but it didn’t happen and every lap I was waiting and waiting (for someone to catch me).”

She continues: “It’s the first race where I’ve heard Geoff Wightman on commentary the whole way. Usually I’m so zoned in that I can’t hear anything but in this race I could hear every word and it was nerve wracking as he was saying how far I was ahead. It was only when I got to a lap to go that I realised they weren’t going to catch me.

“I think everyone thought I’d get reeled in. But training had been going well and it was my one chance to show what I could do. I was really disappointed when I crossed the line, though, as I set off to get as close to Paula’s record as possible and I was bang on at halfway but then had a couple of bad laps where the gust caught me on the bends and I stumbled a little once or twice. When I crossed the line I was happy thinking it was a PB but I was frustrated that I hadn’t maintained the time that I was trying to do.”

Amusingly she has been in Colorado in recent days with Jake Wightman plus Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie. Geoff coaches Jake and is also commentating at the championships in Eugene, so his voice is somewhat following McColgan around this summer.

McColgan is more bothered about the potential heat, though. “It’s been hot in Colorado but we’re racing a 10,000m in Eugene at midday too when it could be very hot. I’m not sure who thought that was a good idea by the way.”

Her race is 12:20pm on Saturday July 16 but will unfold at 8.20pm that same day for viewers in the UK.

The news broke recently that McColgan will run her marathon debut in London on October 2. It means a super-busy season of Worlds followed by Commonwealth Games for Scotland then Europeans with the marathon little over a month later. But experience has taught her not to squander opportunities and therefore she is reluctant to rule herself out of the European Championships at the moment.

“Europeans has a question mark and is still undecided, mainly because of London,” she says. “I have to see how I recover after the Worlds and Commonwealth Games. If they go the way that I like then I’ll probably skip the Europeans to focus on London. But I don’t want to write off the Europeans now.

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is not to write off opportunities because you never know what will happen. We’re being Covid tested a lot for Eugene and Birmingham and even if you have no symptoms but test positive then you will not get to compete so I don’t want to make the silly mistake of saying ‘write me off the Europeans completely’ and then I have to miss the Commonwealths due to Covid or being tripped in a race or whatever. I feel I’m in shape to win some kind of track medal.”

On the marathon, she says: “The road is the next chapter of my career. I won’t say goodbye to the track entirely but it will be more of a case of a 10,000m here and there rather than having full track seasons in future. For Paris, all going well, it will be the marathon.”

She feels the marathon is a genuine step into the unknown. “For me the biggest challenge will be the mileage and the training,” she says. “I’m a low mileage athlete so I might find it hard to get up to that (higher mileages).

“Fuelling is also a concern. I don’t usually drink when I do long runs. I’m like a camel and don’t have anything and I keep going and going. My mum is similar. She lives in Qatar now and it could be 40C and crazy humidity and she will go for a run and not take a single sip of water.

“The longest I’ve ever run is 17 miles when I paced Molly Seidel at 2:25 pace (in London). Before that my longest run was only about 14 miles and it was easy running. So I think I will need a few experiences at the distance before I know if it’s going to be my best event.

“I never thought I’d be a half marathon runner but I really enjoyed RAK Half this year and I feel so much more comfortable on the roads than on the track. Maybe it’s because I have my own space. I’m tall and rangy and I get clipped a lot on the track but when I’m on the road I have a smooth route to pick up the speed. But I’m excited. It’s a new challenge and something new for me to focus on.”