As the end of the school term for most is now only days away, we asked Eilish McColgan, middle-distance Olympian originally from Dundee, to record videos of some of her favourite running drills and exercises as motivation for children as we move into the early phases of the exit from lockdown.
Eilish compared her disappointment at the postponement of this year’s Tokyo Olympics to the feelings of school children, who have had their lives turned upside down by the Coronavirus pandemic, but urged them to see that we are all contributing to an effort to defeat the pandemic.
We asked Eilish if she would record videos of ‘Eilish’s High Five’ - five sets of exercises to do five times in the house, the garden or the local park. She was delighted to and you can watch her introduction to the challenge here. Eilish added:
“This has been a very strange year so far for all of us. I’m keeping active and using sport as a way of boosting my own mental and physical health, and I hope that our kids can do the same. My message for them is to stay positive. It’s going to be pretty weird for a while longer yet, and it’s really important for everyone to keep mentally and physically fit and healthy.
“I hope my video helps, and I hope kids and adults alike have some fun doing it!”
We have recently renewed our long-term sponsorship arrangement with Eilish to extend beyond the 2022 World Championships. Our support for Eilish started in 2013 when she was a dedicated and talented athlete with great potential. She is now a two-time Olympian, three-time British Steeplechase champion and GB international who has qualified to compete in the 5,000m at the yet to be rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.
Today (19 June 2020) it was reported on BBC Sport that Eilish is excited to go for the distance double at the Tokyo Olympics and qualify to compete in the 10,000m – 30 years after her mother (and coach) Liz McColgan won 10,000m world gold in the same city.
Eilish also commented on the recent decision to cancel the Olympics: “Of course, I'm disappointed that the Olympics isn’t going ahead, but with lives being turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, it was certainly the right decision.
“Elite sport will return when the time is right, but for now I’m now focussing all my mental and physical energy on preparing for Toyko 2021.
You can watch all of Eilish’s High Five running drills here and see if you can meet or beat Eilish’s totals noted below.
Drills totals:
#1: Sock ladder - 18
#2: Sock side jumps – 72
#3: Floor runner - 42
#4: Sitting sock circles - 40
#5: Sock shuttle run - 20 seconds
