Olympic triathlon Alex Yee and Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan both made their marathon debut at the 2025 London Marathon.
Yee’s debut experience: “My legs have never been this sore”
For Yee, his London Marathon debut was “one of the best experiences” of his life as an athlete, even though he encountered more difficulties while finishing it than at the Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old athlete finished the race in 14th place, with a final time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 8 seconds.
The athlete told BBC Sport: “It was probably one of the best experiences of my life if I’m being honest. I expected the crowd to be good but they were another level… I am so proud to have completed the marathon.”
He added: “An amazing experience but it was hard at the end. Emotions about [the] time will come afterwards, but the main thing for me today was to enjoy it, do something unknown and embrace it. I did that to my best of my ability… This is bigger than running. It’s an amazing day and I wanted to be a part of it. This was the perfect opportunity.”
When he was asked how running a marathon compared to a triathlon, Yee said that it was a different challenge. He admitted: “My legs have never been this sore. Physically they are quite similar but my legs have never felt like this in my whole life. It’s a new experience definitely.
“Definitely a lot more dark moments, I’d say, than Paris, today… Once I got to 32, 33k there’s a lot of pain there. My legs are cramping and I just had to keep fighting through that.”
Yee confirmed that his switch to the marathon would not be permanent. He plans to focus on defending his Olympic title in triathlon at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
In a social media post, Yee said: “2:11:08 London Marathon! One of the best moments of my life. I didn’t hit my goal but I had the best time doing it. London you really hit different ❤️”
View this post on Instagram
Netizens commented on the post and said: “I think that is the fastest marathon ever by a professional triathlete… way to go!!!!”, “Huge congratulations Alex, you did ittttt! Well done second Brit home on your first marathon, well done Alex 👟🤩💕”, and “Very impressive -well done ! Congrats”
McColgan’s experience: “I was very, very nervous”
Eilish McColgan finally made her marathon debut after her injury had kept her from racing in London in previous years.
The Commonwealth 10,000m champion finished eighth in the elite women’s race, securing the best result among British runners. She impressively set a Scottish marathon record with a time of 2:24:25. In the process, she also beat the personal best of her mother, Liz McColgan, and the 1996 London Marathon winner, who ran 2:26:52 in 1997.
She admitted to BBC Sport: “I was very, very nervous. Probably the most nervous I have been… The distance was an unknown. I have never raced more than a half marathon so the thought of doing it back-to-back was scary. The crowds were insane.”
She added: “I knew my first [marathon] would be tough. I was coming in underprepared. I can now call myself a marathoner which I was incredibly proud of. It was a really good learning experience… I would love to break two minutes 20 seconds. It is what I think I am capable of doing. I will make some tweaks in training….There will definitely be more marathons in the future. Hopefully there can another before the end of the year.”
In a social media post, McColgan shared: “Can now add *Marathoner* to my resume! 💫
One of the hardest races I’ve ever done, but really proud of how I gritted it out to the finish. Scottish Record, Family Record, and British Champ. Not bad for a debut! 🙏 HUGE THANK YOU for the cheers around the course. It was truly insane!! The noise from people cheering at points was actually hurting my ears. London Marathon is truly special!”
View this post on Instagram
Netizens commented on the post and said: “Just brilliant 🥳👏 well done 🔥 and the first of many with even greater successes ahead👏🏻🙌🏼”, “I cheered so hard for you as we passed just after Tower Bridge!! Amazing running”, and “Beyond incredible moment for you Eilish! Running legend 👏🏽👏🏽”