In Recess January 2023

Gone in Four Minutes and Five Seconds

Austin attorney Sarah Lancaster’s latent love of running gets her close to the Olympics

Interview by Eric Quitugua

Austin attorney Sarah Lancaster trains all over Austin, including Austin High School. Photo by Jamison Michel

When some people step out and do the thing they love, it’s something that’s been burning inside them since their days as a pup. “My mom bought me a skateboard when I was a kid” or “I saw My Cousin Vinny when I was in high school” are common responses to questions like “When did you fall in love with XYZ?” or “Did you always want to be a lawyer?” But for Austin-based employment attorney Sarah Lancaster, that love—running (and lawyering)—came after five years at the University of Texas at Austin, where the window closed on her first love of tennis. Is it a blessing or a curse to get a late start? Combined with natural athletic talent, intense training, and the support of her law firm, the 35-year-old Lancaster proves the former with a flash of 5Ks, 10Ks, and an Olympic trial on her short but barely begun running resume.

I WAS READING A PROFILE THAT SAYS YOU’RE RELATIVELY NEW TO COMPETITIVE RUNNING. IS THAT ENTIRELY FAIR TO SAY?
Yeah, I played tennis and basketball in college. In high school, I shifted my focus more toward tennis—I still played basketball but was a competitive junior tennis player growing up, went to UT, played four years there and then walked on to the basketball team my fifth year. The only thing I did was track and field my freshman and senior year of high school. I didn’t go to practice. I just showed up for the races because I was the fastest person in the school without having to go to practice. I ran the 400 and the 4x100 in high school, which is a lot different than the events I do now. I started running a bit in law school to stay in shape and do something active. I did a half marathon in 2016—that’s when I started running more consistently. In terms of competing at a high level, I would say since 2018-2019 is when I started focusing more on being able to run fast times. I didn’t grow up with it—I grew up with different sports and then found this a little later in life.

SO WHY NOT TENNIS OR BASKETBALL? WHY WAS RUNNING THE ONE YOU DECIDED TO GO WITH COMPETITIVELY?
I had exhausted my ceiling in the tennis arena. I grew up playing since I was 10 or 11 years old. Back when I was playing, if you’re really good, you’re already going to have gone pro either before college or within your first year or two. I always thought that after college, I would be done playing tennis at least at such a high level. Running was great because I hadn’t done it before. And it was an easy sport to see yourself improve because you can look at your times. My first 5K was 19 minutes so I trained and kept running. My next one was 17 minutes, and now I’m to the point where I’m about to break 15. You can see the progression there. Tennis is a little more subjective—you’re really just basing it off of how far you make it into a tournament or as you get older, it’s more a rating system. Also running is just a little bit easier in terms of timing because you can do it whenever you want to do it, setting your own schedule.

YOU QUALIFIED FOR THE OLYMPIC TRIALS IN OREGON LAST YEAR. WHAT WAS THAT FEELING LIKE TO GO FROM TRAINING JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS PRIOR TO NOW YOU’RE IN OREGON?
It was great. In the spring of 2018, I found this coach and he was convinced I could run an Olympic trial qualifying time. I was dead set on trying to make that happen and thought I could do it. When I did that, it was very fulfilling for me because I had set this goal and achieved it.

WHEN YOU WERE DOING THE TRIALS, DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR OWN RUNNING TECHNIQUE OR PICK UP THINGS FROM OTHER PEOPLE YOU SAW THAT YOU RACED AGAINST?
Yeah, I think so. I qualified in the 1500, and I also qualified in the 5K. I decided to run the 1500 because it can be a little more strategic and tactical. It was something that I didn’t realize or comprehend when I started running because I thought, The gun goes off and everyone goes out and just runs as hard as they can and whoever runs the hardest wins. In the 1500 semifinals, we went out very slow the first two laps. I was kind of paying attention but not really paying attention, and I knew it felt very comfortable and everyone was right there. And at some point, someone made a move. Looking back, I probably should have positioned myself a little better earlier on in the race to give myself a better chance. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out well for me. I didn’t race tactically very well, but it was a good learning experience. I had never really been in a race like that before.

Austin attorney Sarah Lancaster has spent much of 2022 getting back into running shape.Photo by Jamison Michel.

HAVE YOU BEEN RUNNING A LOT OF RACES SINCE?
After the Olympic trials, I took some time off, maybe a month. And then I started training again, thinking I could still run faster times and wanting to lower my personal best. I had a couple injuries pop up here and there. I ran a 10K at U.S. Champs, and then I also ran the 5K at U.S. Champs. After the 5K I was planning on doing a couple races but then I got COVID. So, I just decided to shut my season down. Now I’m working to get back into shape after taking more time than I usually would have.

WHERE DOES LAW COME INTO THE PICTURE? THERE’S THIS THEME OF PICKING UP THINGS LATER IN LIFE. IS THAT THE CASE FOR LAW OR IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ALREADY HAD AN INTEREST IN?
I played tennis for four years and my fifth year I played basketball. After my fifth year, I went to law school. I don’t have any lawyers in the family, but they thought law school would be something good for me and something I would enjoy. I think it’s just because I have a competitive nature. I like to argue with them, and I might have done a good job at that. But I think it really was more my competitive nature that drew me to go to law school and pursue litigation when I got out and first started practicing. It wasn’t like, “Oh, I always knew it as a kid.”

YOU SAID YOU DON’T CURRENTLY HAVE RACES SCHEDULED. ARE YOU OPEN TO THE IDEA OF GETTING BACK ONCE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN SHAPE TO DO SO?
I have the benefit—it’s a curse maybe—of starting later. The benefit is that I haven’t put as much mileage on my legs, but I’m a little bit older so I guess I’m a little more fragile. So yeah, I want to get back into shape, have my body feeling 100%, continue to chip away at some of the times I’ve run, and hit various goals of times I would like to run in the next couple of years. ^TBJ