since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books:
No more than 5 after 5 (5 miles after 5 p.m., that is).
And no double days on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
“I work hard enough during the week,” Gaughan told Runner’s World. “I think the weekends are a time that you should be able to have a little bit more free time to do fun things.”
Gaughan fits a lot into a day. She works full-time—in investment research for a financial services firm in Boston—and she runs up to 130 miles per week during the bulk of marathon training. Most of her miles are before the sun rises, with training partners who live in Boston.
Then, after she leaves the office, Gaughan does her second run.
“It’s just a way of taking a deep breath after a long, busy day of something stressful at work,” she said. “I think people have different ways of clearing their head and relaxing. For me, it’s, ‘I’ll just go for a little 30-minute run.’”
That hefty training paid off in December, when Gaughan, 25, finished second at the California International Marathon (CIM) in Sacramento. The winner was Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain in 2:24:28, only 12 seconds ahead of Gaughan, who crossed in 2:24:40. It was a substantial PR for Gaughan, who in September 2023 ran 2:27:08 in Berlin.
And add Gaughan’s name is added to the list of top American women marathoners who are working at jobs outside of running. Susanna Sullivan, who ran 2:21:56 in Chicago, is a We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Jess McClain, who was fourth at the Olympic Marathon Trials, middle school math teacher and is a marketing consultant. Sara Vaughn, the top American in New York in 2024, has a career in real estate, and although she’s not tied to a desk from 9-to-5, she still puts in plenty of hours. Before Dakotah Popehn made the Olympic team last year, she was a paralegal for 40 hours per week—she took a break from working to get ready for Paris.
In 2024, Gaughan signed a sponsorship deal with Saucony. But she’ll likely always have a separate career.
“I run better when I have a lot of stuff in my life, a lot of different goals and passions outside of running,” she said. “When I’m a happy person, I’m probably the fastest version of myself.”
Uneven performances during college
Gaughan ran at Notre Dame, but her career had its ups and downs. She ran PRs of 15:52 for 5,000 meters and 33:09 for 10,000 meters, but sometimes she cared about it too much. She’d put so much pressure on herself, she couldn’t run to her potential.
After she graduated, she started her career in finance and worked 60 hours per week at her first job at Goldman Sachs as a financial analyst. She knew she’d keep running in her life, but she didn’t know what form it would take.
The lively Boston community of young runners—most of whom were training for marathons—drew her in. And the ever growing mileage has suited her. She rarely steps on a track or runs fast intervals.
Her coach, Jamie Norton, said she feels as though the marathon is her home as an athlete. Speed is not her strength; consistency is. She’ll do 20-mile runs for several weeks in a row.
Another strength now is keeping it in perspective. She doesn’t feel excessive nerves, because it isn’t her livelihood.
“Obviously she’s a crazy hard worker and super relentless with her commitment to training, and it’s quite impressive what she’s been able to put together,” Norton said. “But keeping the joy is something that’s front and center with her running, and not letting the pressure and expectations creep in.”
A disappointing Chicago
Despite having a previous PR of 2:27, Gaughan never learned how to fuel properly during a race. She would have bottles on the course, some with Gatorade, but she wouldn’t force herself to drink them.
She paid the price in Chicago, hitting the wall at about 17 miles and struggling to the finish in 2:38:40.
It was a disappointing result (on the heels of a previous disappointing result at the Olympic Marathon Trials). Her training partners and coach had to help her regain her confidence and think about entering CIM.
Gaughan’s agent, Hawi Keflezighi, connected her with a dietitian from the sports nutrition brand Maurten, who educated her on how many carbohydrates she needed during a marathon.
She took a conservative approach to the first half of CIM, running 1:14:19, drinking her bottles, and sticking with a pack. Hauger-Thackery was more than 2 minutes ahead at halfway.
The difference, having fueled, was dramatic over the second half, Gaughan said: “I kind of felt like I had put on super shoes for the first time.”
She closed out the race running 1:10:21, close to her half-marathon PR (1:10:01 from the Houston Half Marathon in 2024).
It was a foggy day, Gaughan said, so she had no idea she was gaining on Hauger-Thackery until a spectator told her. Gaughan eventually got to within half a step of Hauger-Thackery, before losing a little bit of ground over the final two kilometers.
“I was surprised, but I think it pulled me along to a faster time,” Gaughan said. “And I think, especially those last six miles, it could have been easy to just get a little bit complacent and think, ‘Okay, I’m going to PR, that’ll be a great day.’ But [the competition] dragged me to something bigger.”
For the 5K between 35K and 40K, Gaughan ran 16:13, averaging 5:13 per mile over that stretch between 21.7 and 24.8 miles, when most runners are feeling the pain of the distance. Given that she rarely touched those speeds in training, it was a surprise.
Gaughan admits she could get better at the tactics of marathoning—getting herself out of her own bubble and competing with the runners around her. She’ll have a crack at that on April 21, when she lines up in Hopkinton and Then, after she leaves the office, Gaughan does her second run.
And she’s eager to find out how much faster she can go. Over the previous 15 months before CIM, she had doubts she’d be able to PR again.
“I was really questioning whether there was only one 2:27 in me,” she said. “After a performance like Berlin, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can get any better. Maybe this is it.’ So then to realize there’s actually more in me, I think I gave myself a bit more self belief and a little bit more confidence. It makes me excited to keep progressing.”
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World The Last Official Finisher of the Boston Marathon, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
