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London Marathon athlete shares gruesome photos to explain why her foot actually 'exploded'

Home> News> Sport

Updated 13:25 27 Apr 2026 GMT+1Published 13:00 27 Apr 2026 GMT+1

London Marathon athlete shares gruesome photos to explain why her foot actually 'exploded'

She still managed to finish in seventh place

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

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Warning: This article contains graphic images which some readers may find distressing.

Team GB athlete and four-time Olympian Eilish McColgan shared some photos of her foot after completing the London Marathon after she said it felt like it had 'exploded'.

She shared a picture of a bloodstained running shoe as the long-distance athlete, who still managed to finish seventh despite her injury, said she had a 'sore body' after running the marathon.

McColgan explained she'd had some injuries in the run-up to the event but wanted to clear up some misinformation about what had happened to her foot.

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The athlete said what she had on her feet 'weren't new shoes or socks' as she'd been wearing them all throughout her training, and neither were they 'too small'.

So she's not completely sure what happened for her foot to bleed while she was running the marathon and suffered the injury, but she's got an idea.

She's recovering after running the marathon (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)
She's recovering after running the marathon (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)

"The only thing we can think of is that maybe my feet were swollen?!" she wrote on Instagram.

"Even the day before the marathon, the rash had spread down to my calves. We still don't know what it was.. as it would come and go throughout the day! But we think that perhaps played a part...

"Anyways, proud of another marathon finish! And THANK YOU for all the cheers around the course. It was insane and genuinely got me through to the finish line!"

She said her foot felt like it 'exploded' shortly after the halfway point (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)
She said her foot felt like it 'exploded' shortly after the halfway point (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)

It's the second time she's run the London Marathon and despite the injury she finished seventh in the elite women's race, with a time of 2:24:51.

According to LBC, once she'd completed the race she spoke about the pain she went through, saying: "Just not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister in my foot.

She said a rash she got close to the marathon might have had something to do with it (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)
She said a rash she got close to the marathon might have had something to do with it (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)

"It sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can say it is I felt like my foot just exploded."

Ouch.

The athlete said that the injury 'panicked' her a bit since she'd suffered it early in the Marathon, and afterwards she 'felt like I was then running a bit funny'.

Despite the injury she still managed to finish seventh in the elite women's category (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)
Despite the injury she still managed to finish seventh in the elite women's category (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)

She said: "I couldn’t feel pressure through my foot. Part of me was like, am I going to…It’s a long way to make it to 26.2.

"I just started to hurt in different areas then as well. So I don’t know if I’m like running funny through it, I assume."

“Especially I got to like 24 miles and my knee started playing up and sort of went on me a bit, and I thought, 'God, I can’t get to 24 miles and not finish it at this point'."

She's taking some much-earned time off as she recovers ahead of the Commonwealth Games (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)
She's taking some much-earned time off as she recovers ahead of the Commonwealth Games (Instagram/@eilishmccolgan)

"I’m just disappointed with how my body sort of held up there.”

Fortunately she did manage to get to the finish line in incredible time, and is looking at recovery ahead of the Commonwealth Games this summer.

Featured Image Credit: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Topics: London Marathon, Marathon, Sport

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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