McColgan on what could give running a boost

GREATER insight into elite athletes’ sporting lives could inspire more people to run, a Dundee Olympian has said.

Eilish McColgan told a webinar, organised by Tayside legal firm Lindsays, how she believes raising the profile of personalities in running would boost the sport.

She recently appeared in a BBC documentary, Running in the Family, which followed her bid to beat the last remaining athletics record set by her mother – the marathon.

At the webinar, Eilish was asked by a contributor what one change she would make to athletics.

She said: “I’d try to give a bit more of a backstory and insight into who the athletes are.

“We see incredible performances, but do people really know who the athletes are? Do they understand what went into that behind the scenes?

“A good way of doing that is perhaps the documentary we did. You get the chance to see the person, rather than just the athlete. I think that would be a way to open the sport to more people, to see we are just like everyone else – everyone doing a parkrun at the weekend. We are going through the exact same highs and lows.

“I’ve learned a lot from watching the documentaries on Formula One and tennis.”

In conversation with UK Athletics chairman Ian Beattie, who is also Lindsays’ chief operating officer, Eilish said that documentaries were a “good way to inspire people to take up running”.

She added: “We have thousands of people who do parkruns every Saturday. But if you asked them to name the top 5K runner in the UK – or the world – a lot would struggle to name an athlete. There’s a disconnect. Maybe we need to start getting some of those stories out better.

“If we can get the sport in front of more people – children who can watch and feel inspired – that to me would feel a big step forward.

“Personalities, and showcasing personalities, would be my first step to build the sport further.”