Team GB athlete's 'foot explodes' after setting incredible London Marathon time

A Team GB star made history at the London marathon on Sunday - but not without dealing with serious pain and discomfort.

Eilish McColgan only made her debut in the last year's event in London, where her mother Liz won back in 1996 with a time a 2:27:54.

The second generation McColgan finished seventh in the 2026 edition, with her time of 2.24.51 making her the fastest British woman.

The time was 26 seconds slower than her Scottish record of 2:24:25, set in her debut marathon showing. The 35-year-old, who is the Commonwealth 10,000m champion and holds the European record for the 10km road race, achieved the feat despite suffering from severe blistering that had her feeling as though her foot had "exploded".

The issue led to other problems which impacted McColgan, who admitted that her "skin just fell out" when she took off her sock afterwards following a trip to the doctor.

"Not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister and it sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can really describe it is that it felt like my foot exploded,” McColgan said.

“It panicked me a little bit and from then on I was running funny – I couldn’t really put pressure on my foot so I began to hurt in other areas as well.”

She continued: "I got to 24 miles and my knee started playing up and almost went on me. I was like: ‘I can’t get to 24 miles and not finish’. I don’t know why my foot decided to be indifferent today. I was covered in blood. I had to go and see the doctor after my race because I couldn’t put any pressure through my foot. I took my sock off and the skin just fell out."

McColgan will now rest up and turn her attentions to the Commonwealth Games in July, where she is set to represent Scotland on the big stage once again.

The women's event was won by Ethiopian Tigist Assefa, who set a new women's world record of 2:15:41 on the London course.

History was also made in the men's race, where Sabastian Sawe of Kenya ran the fastest ever marathon with a world-record time of 1:59:30.

Both record-breakers are in line to pocket significant prize money for their record-breaking acheivements.