As the daughter of a famous Mum, Eilish McColgan has faced a mixed bag of negatives and positives in her first few years as a Scottish athlete. But, certainly at the moment, the outlook could hardly be any brighter for Liz’s 17-year-old daughter. 

This month, Eilish will compete for Scotland in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in India. A 1,500m specialist, she is not sure where she stands in the rankings. But she is determined to do Scotland proud.

“I’m really looking forward to India, it will be a huge experience,” said the youngster. “It will be my last race of the season and I don’t know who I will be up against. But I’m sure it will be a great trip.”

While Liz made her name as a long distance runner – winning the 10,000m at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo – Eilish is concentrating on the middle distances.

She was second in the 1,500m at the Scottish Championships this year - and she also won the steeplechase title, an event that is relatively new in the women’s arena.    

While not necessarily a deliberate choice, Eilish, whose father, Peter, ran for Ireland, is relieved that the choice of a different event has helped ease the pressure of carrying the McColgan name. 

“When I first became interested in athletics, everybody expected me to be really good, and I didn’t really understand why,” she reflected. “But now it’s much better and I don’t feel any extra pressure in trying to follow in Mum’s footsteps.”

In fact, it is her mother – who is also her coach at Dundee Hawkhill Harriers – who helps Eilish to be regarded as just another of Scotland’s promising young athletes. 

“My Mum is my coach, but there is a large group of about 25 so I’m just treated the same as everyone else,” continued Eilish. 

Having just started her first year as a maths and accountancy student at Dundee University, Eilish is going to face a heavy workload on and off the track. But the level-headed teenager is determined to make steady progress towards fulfilling her running dreams. 

“I have looked into the idea of maybe going to America, but I think I’m too young and I really want to finish my degree. You need something to fall back on in case athletics doesn’t work out,” she pointed out. 

“It’s not time yet to go full-time and I really enjoy living in Scotland, and training with my Mum’s group. 

Eilish’s target next year will be to lower her 1,500m personal best time from the current 4:27 to somewhere nearer 4:20. She also hopes to develop her steeplechase skills.

“I actually hardly ever practise the steeplechase, but I enjoy doing it for fun and might do more in the future,” she said.  

She modestly suggests that the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 Olympics London might be too soon for her to don an international vest, but the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is a huge target.

Liz won her first major title and came to the public’s attention with her great victory in the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Meadowbank – wouldn’t it be amazing if daughter Eilish mounted the podium in Glasgow some 28 years later...

EB
© Copyright In The Winning Zone, MMVIII, All Rights Reserved