Kirkhill athlete finishes first British woman at London Marathon in debut of dreams
KIRKHILL athlete Mhairi Maclennan had the “debut of dreams” as she was the first British woman to finish the 2024 London Marathon and was crowned Scottish Marathon Champion.
The Inverness Harriers athlete was the first British woman to complete the 26.2 mile race as she recorded a time of 2:29:15.
The Scottish Marathon Championship was also held at the London Marathon which landed Maclennan the national crown.
Maclennan finished 11th overall in the women’s race, with the top 10 all consisting of African athletes.
Peres Jepchirchir from Kenya claimed victory in a time of 2:16:16.
Maclennan (29) who was making her debut competing in the marathon, said she was pleased to record such a fast time.
Speaking in a video interview with Athletics Weekly, she said: “It was amazing, brilliant and awful in equal measure.
“But I guess I had the debut of dreams, it was really hard and I definitely positively splitted by quite a lot. I couldn’t have asked for much more, the crowds were amazing and it was unreal.”
Speaking about the final 10 miles of the race, she said: “I don’t think anything can prepare you for that, it was horrific.
“Everything hurt, my calves were popping, my quads were aching. All I wanted to do was stop and I was like keep going.
“I would have loved to have got 2:28, but under 2.30 is more than I could have asked for. It is well under and I am happy.
“It was a cool one to do on debut, in a mass race you will have people around you for longer, I knew that last bit was going to be hard and I would be on my own. It was hard.”
Maclennan is more well known in her career for competing in cross country and is a former Scottish Cross Country champion.
She is now at the stage of her career where she wants to challenge herself in the longest distance in athletics.
She said: “I thought it was now or never, I wanted to do a marathon for ages.
“I just want to give it a go. I needed a new aim, challenge and something new to do and it was the right time for me. London was there and the buzz around the marathon I thought I would join the buzz.”
