Most athletes arriving at a major championship have one thing on their mind: the race ahead.
For British runner Abbie Donnelly, the night before Sunday’s European Championships marathon in Birmingham brought an entirely different kind of crisis.
She had packed two different-sized shoes.
What followed was a chaotic scramble involving her parents, her boyfriend, and a race-day delivery that arrived with barely thirty minutes to spare — and somehow, impossibly, it all ended with Donnelly standing on the podium as a European bronze medalist and a genuine piece of British athletics history.
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The Shoe Disaster That Almost Derailed Everything
Donnelly had her Kiprun KD900X LD+ race shoes ready to go — or so she thought.
Trying them on the evening before the race, something felt immediately wrong with the right shoe. A quick check confirmed the nightmare: she’d brought two different sizes to one of the biggest races of her career.
I’m definitely the liability. I actually brought two different sized shoes by accident to this race. I tried them on last night and I was like, ‘The right one does not feel right.’
Her parents and boyfriend Shane immediately kicked into emergency mode, tracking down the correct shoe and getting it to the start line in time.
It was close. Very close.
It was half an hour before [the race when] my boyfriend Shane put the chip on because I was so flustered.
With the timing chip finally attached and the correct shoes on her feet, Donnelly lined up and did what she came to Birmingham to do.
A Race That Went Right Down to the Wire
Once the chaos of the morning faded, Donnelly found her rhythm — though the race itself offered no easy passage.
The eight-lap course through Birmingham was relentlessly hilly, forcing runners into a constant tactical battle for position throughout.
It was a really tough race, both just the course and the tactics of it. There was a lot of surging because of the hills, but I’m so pleased with how it turned out. It was a proper to-the-line moment.
Rather than fixating on pace or splits — the typical marathon strategy — Donnelly took a different approach entirely.
She kept her focus on the athletes surrounding her, reading the race as it unfolded rather than chasing a clock.
I didn’t think about the time. I was aware of where I was in the pack.
That instinct paid off. Crossing the finish line in 2:27:33, she claimed third place and, with it, a moment that will live in British athletics history.
Making History for British Women’s Marathon Running
The bronze wasn’t just a personal milestone — it was a landmark achievement for Great Britain.
Donnelly became the first British woman ever to win a European Championships marathon medal. Her performance also contributed to Great Britain claiming team gold on the day, making an already remarkable result even more significant.
She hadn’t exactly expected it to go this way.
Donnelly described a podium finish as an “optimistic dream” heading into the race, and admitted that the challenging, hilly course — one that reminded her of cross-country running — may have worked in her favor. It was also her debut marathon in a championship environment, racing without the usual pacemakers that guide most marathon efforts.
Sometimes the unusual circumstances bring out the best performances.
Oh, and She’s Also Writing a PhD Thesis
If the shoe saga and the historic bronze medal weren’t enough to process, there’s one more layer to this story that makes Donnelly’s achievement even more staggering.
She’s doing all of this while completing a part-time PhD at Loughborough University.
Her research explores popular imperialism and British culture across the 19th and early 20th centuries — which, it’s safe to say, is about as far from elite marathon running as it gets.
And the timing couldn’t be more inconvenient. Her thesis is reportedly due in just six weeks, meaning the victory celebrations will need to be brief.
I might give myself tomorrow, then I have a lot of writing to do. If my supervisor is reading this, then I’m sorry — I will finish it!
European bronze medalist. PhD candidate. Accidental mismatched-shoe wearer.
Abbie Donnelly is, somehow, all three at once — and British athletics is better for it.
