McColgan wins London Big Half after five months out

Eilish McColgan claimed her fourth victory at the Big Half in London on Sunday after returning to action following five months out with a fractured foot.

The 35-year-old Scot suffered the injury during the London Marathon in April, crossing the line in seventh place with blood seeping through her shoe, and was forced to pull out of July's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

But McColgan showed the benefit of months of warm weather training, completing a comfortable victory over the 13.1-mile course back in the English capital.

The British women's half-marathon record holder beat last year's winner Jessica Warner-Judd by one minute 19 seconds, finishing in a time of 1hr 10mins 54secs.

It was more than three minutes outside her best time for the course and well outside her British record for the distance of 1:05:43.

Britain's Jack Rowe missed out on a record fourth consecutive victory in the men's race, finishing in second place, 14 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers' Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who won in a time of 1:01:51.

Britain's David Weir defended his title in the men's wheelchair event, winning the race for the fifth time in its nine-year history in a new record time.

The 47-year-old, who retired from Paralympic competition in 2024, knocked 45 seconds off his own record for the course, which he set last year, winning in 46:13.

Eden Rainbow Cooper won the women's event in 52:47 to defend her title.