In our latest webinar with 'In conversation with Eilish McColgan', Eilish told our COO Ian Beattie, that a greater insight into elite athletes’ sporting lives could inspire more people to run.
Eilish is a high-profile advocate of encouraging more people into athletics and she hopes that is just the beginning for raising the profile of personalities in running - highlighting how hers is a sport for all. And the Commonwealth gold medalist hinted that she would love to see athletics profiled in the same way as Formula One and tennis have been through blockbuster Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive and Break Point.
Answering questions from the audience tuned into our webinar, Eilish was asked what one change she would make to athletics.
Speaking from her training base in Doha, the Dundee Hawkhill Harrier 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.”
Eilish, who is targeting a return to the 10,000 metres in time for the Paris Olympics and then to make her marathon debut later this year as she recovers from injury, said she would like to see followers of athletics relate to the elite performers on the track and field in the same way as football fans do its biggest stars.
Eilish added: “Documentaries are a good way to inspire people to take up running. We have such a unique sport with so many people across the world doing 5Ks, 10Ks and marathons. But it often feels as though there’s no connection to the elite side. How do we bridge the gap between elite athletics and people who love running? 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.”
We are proud to be one of the most prominent supporters of grassroots athletics in Scotland - as well as our long-term sponsorship with Eilish, and more recently extending that to her not-for-profit initiative Giving Back To Track, we have also partnered with Scottish Athletics to support the Scottish XC Season since 2014 - thought to be one of the longest-running deals of its kind in the country - helping clubs nationally open opportunities for people to run.
Highlighting the beauty of running for all, Eilish said: “There’s such a great running community. That’s one of the best things about our sport.
“Whether you’re an Olympic athlete or someone doing your first parkrun, every person who puts on a pair of trainers and heads out the door goes through the same highs and lows, whether injuries, the frustrations of hitting a plateau and not getting any faster, to illnesses or trying to find the right pair of trainers.
“It doesn’t matter what speed you run at. I don’t think other sports have that same grassroots-to-Olympic level when you can all really relate to the individual.”
She and partner Michael Rimmer - himself a three-time Olympian - launched Giving Back to Track to lift the financial barriers for children to get into athletics. It already supports after-school clubs in Dundee, Aberdeen and near Glasgow - and is a project they are keen to expand over time.
Speaking after the webinar, Ian Beattie said: “Eilish is one of the great ambassadors for athletics in Scotland. Her achievements and enthusiasm for running at all levels really is inspiring and is making a difference in communities.
“Through our support of the likes of the Lindsays XC with scottishathletics, Lindsays is playing its part in encouraging people into running and healthier living too. From parkrunner to ultra-runner, it is a sport everyone can enjoy.”
Eilish hopes to compete in her fourth Olympic Games this summer, won a new army of fans following a recent BBC documentary on her remarkable journey so far.
You can watch what Eilish had to say during the webinar - see below.
