Eilish McColgan believes social media companies should have tighter restrictions to clamp down on ‘trolls’ and abusive comments; McColgan spoke about negativity she has received about her image online ahead of her London Marathon debut

Eilish McColgan will make her London Marathon debut on Sunday

Eilish McColgan has vowed to continue calling out social media trolls in the hope of setting a positive example to aspiring young runners.

McColgan will make her London Marathon debut on Sunday with the aim of beating the personal best of mum Liz, who ran a then Scottish record of two hours, 26 minutes and 52 seconds in 1997.

It was during training for the event that the extent of online hate McColgan receives came to light with an Instagram post of her running on a treadmill drawing negative comments over her body that Liz described as “demeaning and abusive”.

London Marathon has not posted on its official X account since January, insisting it is no longer a “positive place to be”, but McColgan will maintain her social media presence with clear goals in mind.

“It affects my mum and even my dad way more than it affects me. They read that about their daughter and feel they have to fight back,” said the 34-year-old, who revealed that a father of three and a female teacher are among those who have targeted her.

“I’ve become pretty numb to it. Those comments I’ve had for years, they’re nothing new. They honestly don’t mean anything to me. I laugh at some of them because they’re so ridiculous.

“The only reason I call it out from time to time is that I know that I have a lot of young kids who do follow me and I don’t want them to read it and think the reason I’m that fast is because I’m starving myself to do it – like skinny means fast.

“That’s such a bad narrative to get caught into, it’s also not real. If you don’t look after yourself you might get one or two good performances and then vanish from the sport.

“It’s trying to get across to the next generation that to get the most out of your career the utmost priority is looking after your body. It doesn’t matter what people online think. It’s also important that youngsters see the highs and the lows, everything that you go through.

“I’ve had a couple of people message to say they get bullied at school because of the way they look so it’s helped them because if I’m in my 30s and still getting bullied for the way I look, it gives them a little more confidence to fight their corner.

Eilish McColgan says athletics allowed her to build confidence and belief in what her body could achieve

“The only reason I do call it out from time to time is because I want people to see that what’s being said is not my reality, it’s actually the complete opposite of that.”

McColgan added that social media companies should enforce verified accounts that include an identification link to help address the issue of online abuse.

The 2022 Commonwealth 10,000m champion sees her future in the marathon and hopes to compete in the distance at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. First, however, she must get through her 26.2-mile debut.

“I’m absolutely bricking it. I’ve never been this scared! It’s completely unknown,” she said. “I’ve done 21 miles in training, never got anywhere near 26. There’s that thought process of what happens after 20 miles because I don’t know.”