Olympic Dream Fuels Vaughan

Valerie Vaughan turned a bit of bad luck to her favor.

Vaughan, an Irish national who coached boys’ and girls’ cross-country at Mater Dei High from 1993-95, asked for a leave of absence in January 1996 to train for the Olympics. She was granted it, and nearly qualified for Ireland’s Olympic track team.

“On paper, I was the No. 3 runner,” she said. “I had the third-fastest time [in the 5,000], 15:37. But a woman who ran 15:44 was ‘pre-selected’ for the team. Whatever that means.”

Had she made the team, Vaughan would have competed in Atlanta and then retired, she said. “Instead, it prolonged my running career.”

Vaughan, who will run in Sunday’s seventh Race for the Cure in Newport Beach, has lived in the United States since 1988. She earned her master’s degree in English at Western Kentucky and moved to Southern California on the advice of a friend. She currently lives in Costa Mesa, and runs full-time. She is coached by Marco Ochoa, the former cross-country coach at Rancho Santiago College.

“When I was coaching at Mater Dei, a couple of my runners went to Rancho Santiago,” said Vaughan, 31. “One of them came to me and introduced me to Marco.”

Until then, she was coaching herself. Ochoa, who has since moved to Alamosa, Colo., nearly qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon team in 1996. Vaughan, who is sponsored by Fountain Valley-based Asics, trains with him when she can in Colorado, where altitude helps build endurance.

During the summer, she flies back to Ireland and competes on the European track and field circuit. On Aug. 24, Vaughan finished seventh in the 5,000 at the European Championships in Budapest. She also helped the Irish women’s team finish third at the world cross-country championships in March in Turin, Italy.

She hopes to qualify in the 5,000 for the Irish Olympic team in 2000. “There’s a slight chance I’d try for the 10,000 also, but I don’t really like it. I don’t think I’ve fulfilled my potential at 5,000.”

In the United States, Vaughan competes in many road races. Last weekend in Boise, Idaho, she ran in the Women’s Fitness 5K. In January, she won her first half-marathon, in 1:17.06, in Irvine.

“It was a completely different race,” she said. “I was dreading it. I don’t like running that long. But I found, because the pace was slow, I never felt the pain that you feel at 5,000.”

Vaughan has finished among the top 10 in the Race for the Cure for the last six years, winning in 1993 and ’96. A friend, Ursula Nochtor, died of lymph cancer, and Vaughan calls the Race for the Cure “one of those races you just want to be a part of.”

Joining Vaughan among the elite group of runners will be Breeda Dennehy Willis, the Irish junior champion in the 800 and 1,500. Olympian Ruth Wysocki (third at last year’s Race for the Cure) and Huntington Beach’s Kelly Flathers are expected to compete for $5,000 in prize money.

Vaughan holds the course record of 15:51, set in 1996, and Nicole Woodward is the defending champion.

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The Race for the Cure course loops on rolling hills in and around Newport Center. Kathy Kinane of Kinane Events, which has managed and marketed the race since it began in 1992, said it is the second-largest road race in California, behind the Revlon 5K, which is run near the Coliseum.

About 17,000 participated last year, raising about $690,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. This year, Kinane said she is expecting 25,000 runners and $1 million. Kinane added she is expecting the largest team to date: 1,300 members of the U.S. Postal Service. (Last year, Lucky had 1,100 members).

The Race for the Cure is one of a series of 86 races across the country that were begun in 1982 by the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

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The 12th Harbor Heritage Run, a sanctioned race that benefits Newport Harbor High School, is Saturday, Oct. 3.

Run chairwoman Kathi Glover said she is expecting about 1,000 participants in the race, which last year netted about $25,000 for the school. The loop course begins at the high school, 600 Irvine Ave., proceeds down Dover Drive and along scenic Cliff Drive.

Entry fees until Sept. 25 are $20 for adults, $18 for students; $15 for children 12 and younger. After that deadline, fees increase to $22, $20 and $17. For more information, call (949) 645-5806.