Dundee running legend Liz McColgan has hit out at social media influencers and personal trainers for copying her training programmes.
The two-time Commonwealth gold medallist claims people are contacting her for fitness tips – then passing them off as their own.
The 59-year-old took to Instagram to “rant” about her “gripe of the month”.
She said: “I am so fed up of social media/Instagram influencer/PT instructors who are not upfront and say who or what they do, and who contact me for training for programmes then all of a sudden are using my sessions for coaching private clients and running groups as qualified coaches.
‘Just be upfront’
“They do not even try to find out why the training plan is devised as it is, they just copy my sessions.”
McColgan – mum of 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000-metre champion Eilish – says she would be happy to help people if they were more honest.
She added: “If they were upfront and said they wanted mentoring or help with coaching career, I would be happy to help, as a good coach is one who shares knowledge for others to develop as well as ongoing learning for their own development.
“Honestly, just be upfront. Runners out there, you should actually ask your group leaders, ‘How qualified are you?'”
In January, McColgan posted on her Instagram about how she had completed her first run since November, after she had “lost all my motivation and love to get out there and run”.
It came following the death of husband John Nuttall, who died in Qatar, where the couple were based.
Nuttall, who competed in the 1994 Commonwealth Games and married McColgan in 2014, died from a heart attack, aged 56.
In December, McColgan opened up about the difficulties of losing her loved one.
Eilish returned to Dundee at the weekend to meet runners taking part in a parkrun at Camperdown.
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