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Without a major outdoor championships to train for in 1989, Liz McColgan
set her sights on other challenges. At the World Indoor Championships
in Budapest on March 4, after setting a world record breaking pace
throughout the 3000m final, McColgan was passed by Elly van Hulst
(Netherlands) in the last lap, who went on to claim victory and the
world record. It was probably of small comfort to Liz that her second
place time of 8min 34.80sec was a whopping five seconds under the old
record. In an incredible test of stamina for a 10,000m specialist,
McColgan then lined up for the final of the 1500m held only 13 minutes
later!! Incredibly, she finished in a creditable sixth place in a new
indoor personal best of 4min 10.16sec. Only seven days later, McColgan
was in Orlando, Florida, competing in the Red Lobster 10k Classic, the
race in which she had set a world 10k road best time of 30min 59sec the
previous year.
With 10000m track world record holder Ingrid Kristiansen
(Norway) also in the field, Liz took no chances, setting a fast pace
from the start, and beating Kristiansen by over a minute in a staggering
30min 38sec, lopping 21 seconds off her old mark. Despite this
magnificent start to the year, McColgan had a rather low-key outdoor
season on the track, not competing in a 10000m event, although she did
win the UK 3000m title at Jarrow in June. Her next major competition
was the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, where, after sharing the
early pace setting in the 3000m final on 28 January, McColgan (see photo above)
held on to win the bronze medal in 8min 47.66sec. In the 10000m final,
held five days later, she successfully defended her Commonwealth title
in a time of 32min 23.56sec. (Ron Casey)
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