Winning Isn't Everything

Yvonne Aasen was disappointed that she finished fourth in the 85-89-year-old division for the 5K in the National Senior Olympics, which wrapped up in Albuquerque, New Mexico on June 25. “If I’d have had a kick at the end I would have had a bronze,” she said with a grin.

The Carroll Lutheran Village resident and experienced Senior Olympian still brought home a gold medal for her participation in the 4x100 relay, along with ribbons for 4th place in the 5K, 5th place in the 800M and 6th place in the 400M.

She may be disappointed – but most people are impressed she was there at all. Throughout this past winter and spring, Yvonne found running and even walking to be painful. “Suddenly, while walking one day I had to stop every few yards to rest,” she said. Test results discovered that an artery in her left leg was completely blocked. Yvonne underwent angioplasty to clear the blockage on June 11.

Back on Her Feet

After three days of rest, she was allowed to start running again. Yvonne took it slow – painfully walk/running three miles around the Village, the distance of a 5K – to be sure she could cover the distance. “It took a lot more out of me than I expected,” she said of the surgery.

Travel arrangements to New Mexico were made months in advance. What to do? “I decided I’d go and just do the best I could,” she said, and just a few days after getting back on her feet she boarded a plane, arriving in Albuquerque on June 17.

“I went alone. None of my five kids could go with me,” Yvonne said, but not to worry - she shared her experience with some newfound friends. The morning after arriving, Yvonne went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant, where three women at a nearby table invited her to join them. One of them, Gina, was also a senior Olympian competing in field events. After learning that Yvonne was also a competitor, they looked up her events on their smartphones only to discover that Yvonne’s first event, the 400M, was scheduled for that very morning!

New Friends - With an Unexpected Twist

Gina and her friend, Hope, along with Gina’s daughter Autumn, drove Yvonne to the Albuquerque Convention Center to obtain her credentials. They then drove her to the stadium for her event, where they served as her cheering section for that race and all of the others that followed. They even went sightseeing together. “They were my guardian angels,” Yvonne said. As it turns out, Gina and Hope first met years ago and became fast friends while working at a gas station on East Main Street in Westminster. They moved away long ago, but kismet connected them with Yvonne years later.

Training for 2021

At 87 years old (she’ll be 88 in August), Yvonne is already back in training – and planning to run a 5K in Annapolis on July 13 and another in Westminster on July 14. Her usual schedule is to do weight training in the gym at Carroll Lutheran Village three times a week and run or walk two or three times a week. She also walks everywhere on campus instead of taking the shuttle.

Yvonne brought home four gold medals in the 2017 National Senior Olympics in Birmingham, Alabama. She brought home one gold, three ribbons, and three new friends in the 2019 games, and she’s already got her sights set on the 2021 games in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Running is a part of Yvonne’s spirit – if you ask her what she would do if she couldn’t run, she’ll say, “I’d walk.” That determination is the secret ingredient in her training regimen.