Austin McGowan’s sport of choice had always been swimming. He swam D1 at Providence College and coaches high school swimming. But lately he’s taken up running as a way to stay active and channel that competitiveness.
Last year, Austin attended the Boston Marathon for the first time as an adult, to support one of his best friends. Being at the finish line and taking in the atmosphere, he realized it was something he wanted to be part of – it was the moment he decided he wanted to run the marathon too.
As he started looking at and thinking about potential charities to run for, he came across the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. That is where he stopped. Austin was familiar with JAF because he grew up in Mansfield, the same hometown of Jen and Joe Andruzzi. Through his Marathon experience, he’s learned more about JAF and is more connected than ever.
“I just really like the mission they have…I like that they’re stepping in for people that may not have a community that can support them through dark times.”
Though not to cancer, Austin lost his father a few years ago and saw firsthand how people in his family and in his circle were willing to help when the family was at a low point.
“That willingness to help got me wondering -what if I didn’t have my family? And I think that’s what gets me about [JAF] is that not everyone does have family? JAF fills that void for those people, which I think is really important.”
So, Austin started training for the Boston Marathon as a member of Team JAF despite having never run a race of any significant length before. Thanks to a deep playoff run by the Patriots, weekly squares and pools for each of those games, and a big event he and a friend hosted, Austin had a lot of fundraising success.
But then in mid-February, Austin broke his foot, and everything about his pre-marathon process shifted. He was in a boot for six and a half weeks, so he transitioned his training to hours of cycling on a stationary bike. He worried that his inability to run might make his fundraising efforts more challenging. But it was actually motivating.
“What surprised me was that people said they didn’t care that I wasn’t running, they cared that I was raising funds for JAF, and they wanted to help. It was really inspiring, just the willingness that people are that charitable, and the amount of money that some people were giving was really impressive. Having their support for fundraising and through my injury has been a really good, wholesome journey for me .
Austin is back on his feet and hopes that all the aerobic activity he did, and the mental fight against being stationary for hours at a time, will help him get over the finish line so he can experience that rush of emotions he witnessed from the stands last year.