Nope. Even when "running" away from something else they dislike, or when they are the recipient of unwelcome advances, they will still move at a snail's pace. As had been said, they don't have to move far in research, and parenting for a slow female is another career option.

I have succeeded in getting a slow villager to an Esteemed Elderhood a couple of times, but not often. They tend to die first ...