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DENVER \u2013 Her training runs involved pushing a jogging stroller loaded with enough snacks to keep her toddler content. Her core workouts featured exercises as her kids climbed on her back or even joined her. Her schedule sometimes got thrown off for potty training.<\/p>\n
This is the program that allowed Sara Vaughn , mother of three, real estate agent and burgeoning 1,500-meter runner at 31 years old, to earn a spot for the world championships in London this week. She even borrowed a line from her youngest daughter for inspiration at U.S. championships in June with the third and final spot on the line: \u201cMy turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter doesn\u2019t share very well and when someone has a toy or something that she wants, she\u2019ll say, \u2018My turn,\u2019\u201d said Sara, who\u2019s coached by her husband, Brent. \u201cIn that moment, it made so much sense. I saw a couple of women in front of me that had something I wanted and I was tired of not finishing in the top three. It was my turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
A standout runner out of high school in Nebraska, Sara competed at Virginia before transferring to Colorado. She got pregnant with Kiki during her sophomore year and later became an All-American in cross country. She and Brent \u2013 a former runner at Colorado \u2013 were married on July 28, 2007. They just celebrated their 10-year anniversary while training in London. And soon, they will be joined by their three kids \u2013 Kiki, 10, Calia, 7, and Cassidy, who turns 2 on Saturday \u2013 a day after the opening round of her mom\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis summer, a family trip to Europe \u2013 that\u2019s something we never would\u2019ve dreamed of without this running thing,\u201d said Sara, who will head to Paris and Barcelona with the crew for some sightseeing after worlds.<\/p>\n
To think, she almost stepped away. Heavy emphasis on almost.<\/p>\n
With each pregnancy, resuming her running career became increasingly difficult. Last summer at the Olympic Trials \u2013 11 months after giving birth to Cassidy \u2013 Sara finished seventh.<\/p>\n
Enough almost seemed to be enough. She was largely unsponsored and constantly concerned about spending money for training out of the family\u2019s finances, which, for years, were solely based off Brent\u2019s running deal with a shoe company. \u201cI had a hard time performing well when our livelihood depended on that performance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That motivated her to become a real estate agent in 2013, just to bring in extra funds. On top of that, Brent opened a construction business about 3\u00bd years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we have income and stability, for me, it brought a lot of the joy back into running,\u201d Sara said as the couple recently bought their \u201cforever home\u201d in Boulder. \u201cI can enjoy competing without stressing about whether we can pay the mortgage or for swimming lessons. I don\u2019t have that guilt that goes with running.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brent\u2019s noticed a difference, too, with her fitness at another level after not making the team for the Rio de Janeiro Games. She ran a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 6.64 seconds on June 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Brent said. \u201cShe has plenty more space to improve over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brent took over coaching his wife earlier this season. First, though, they had to establish ground rules. At home , he\u2019s Brent. At the track, he\u2019s coach \u2013 and what Coach Brent says, goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I start to complain or whine about a workout, he won\u2019t let that charm work,\u201d Sara said, laughing.<\/p>\n
Frequently, Sara will load up Cassidy in the baby jogger to squeeze in between five and nine miles, when the other two are at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a love\/hate relationship with that stroller,\u201d she said. \u201cI would much prefer never to run with it, because it adds extra stress and it changes my form a little bit. But it\u2019s such a tool when in a pinch, which is half the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baby sitters, friends, family, DVDs \u2013 to entertain the kids as she stretches \u2013 and the drop-in sitter service at her gym have proven invaluable as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a lot of cooperation from my kids, too, to be understanding and forgiving and supportive of their parents,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m traveling a lot. I miss recitals every once in a while. They have been awesome and supportive of their mom, which is really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
At nationals, her game plan was elementary: Stay calm on the first few laps, stay alert in the middle and stay aggressive on the last lap. The mantra \u201cmy turn\u201d popped into her mind with the finish line in sight. Her daughter\u2019s saying was the perfect motivator.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so happy for her. I didn\u2019t know how to contain myself,\u201d Brent said . \u201cIt was quite a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
So was this: Calling home to tell their kids the news about mom. Each had a different reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy oldest, who\u2019s been around the sport for a long time, she kind of understands the significance of finally making the team,\u201d recalled Sara, who\u2019s creating a fund to help undergraduate parents so they can earn their degrees. \u201cMy middle one, a little less so, but she does understand that it meant she got to go on a cool, exciting trip to London this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my youngest one, she\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, that\u2019s my mom on TV!\u2019 She was pretty excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s success wasn\u2019t the only big news around the Vaughn household in recent weeks. Cassidy is getting the hang of potty training.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything feels really settled,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have life stress, normal stress, but not like we did when all we were doing was running. Not that life is easier \u2013 it\u2019s just much less stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mom, real estate agent and runner Sara Vaughn qualifies for world championships<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,1914,594],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-69035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-running","tag-track-and-field"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69035"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=69035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}