London Marathon horror: foot ‘explodes’ and career question for McColgan
After a blister “exploded” just after halfway, marathon debut star Kelly is left asking what could have been. She finished seventh and now faces a recovery decision.
The moment it happened, Kelly McColgan says her foot “just exploded” — a sudden, brutal injury that turned a hopeful London Marathon run into a race she had to limp through.
McColgan, 35, had a time on the clock of 2:24:51 before the problem derailed her shortly after halfway.. The Scot’s marathon debut last year had already been notable: she finished eighth in 2:24:25, the top British finisher that day.. This year, she pushed a little further on paper, crossing the line in seventh — but the injury left a different kind of question hanging over the result.
After the race, McColgan described how a blister escalated faster than she could adapt.. “Just not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister in my foot,” she said, explaining that the sensation was so dramatic it felt like her foot had torn.. She said she started to panic, not only because of the pain, but because she could no longer feel pressure through her foot, and the distance still stretched out to 26.2 miles.
As the marathon unfolded, the issue did not stay in one place.. She reported that after the foot problem, she began to feel discomfort shifting elsewhere, and by around 24 miles her knee began to “play up.” That sequence helps explain why the final outcome, while strong by finishing position, must have felt strangely hollow for a runner chasing a personal breakthrough.
What started as a blister became the defining story
She also suggested there may have been a shoe-related factor, though she was careful to frame it as suspicion rather than certainty.. She noted it was the first time she had encountered an issue like that with the shoes she had worn often.. By the end, she said she was covered in blood and needed medical attention afterward, adding that she could not put pressure through her foot.
That detail matters, because it points to how quickly a small problem can escalate in endurance sport.. A blister is usually treatable, but in a marathon the margin for repair is tight: decisions are made while moving, and even a short disruption can force an athlete to change stride, load joints differently, and fight new discomforts.
Recovery and a bigger decision after London
Her career trajectory gives that loss extra weight.. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres champion and set a Games record in the process.. With the Glasgow Commonwealth Games coming up in July, she said she will heal from the injury first, then decide whether to attempt a competition or not.
There is also a wider lesson for anyone watching elite running at close range: training and fitness aren’t the only drivers of marathon success.. Gear, skin integrity, and small variations in foot strike can become decisive — especially when the problem appears soon after the halfway point, when athletes are already committed to a long, punishing rhythm.
London Marathon, from personal heartbreak to historic speed
In the same field, however, McColgan’s story underscores a different truth: endurance is not only measured by pacing charts or finish-line times.. It is also about resilience when the body suddenly stops cooperating — and about what comes next after the diagnosis, the healing, and the quiet calculation every runner makes afterward: how much was lost, and how much can still be earned.