Austen began his running at a young age but did not find the sport to be very fun. Though Austen did not originally find running enjoyable, he embraced the challenge and pressed on anyway. Fast forward a few years and Austen graduated from UNC Chapel Hill. Instead of pursuing his PhD Austen decided he wanted to live the van life and bought a 1977 VW Bus. He traveled all around the United States, running 2500 miles and planting 2500 trees (check out his Instagram: @leavegreenfootprints)
From 2017-2019 Austen had put a number of races on his calendar but missed them all due to injury. He was doing all of the little things to give himself the best chance to make these race start lines but could not stay injury free long enough to line up and compete. Austen discovered LEVER in 2019 and was very interested in using Body Weight Support to stay healthy. He was still living in his VW Van at the time and loved that LEVER only weighed 10lbs but could take off up to 45lbs off while he was running.
In the summer of 2019 Austen started using his LEVER at least once a week at the gym. Within 6 months of using Body Weight Support, Austen finished within a minute of his half marathon PR and completed his first marathon in a time of 2:39. This was just the beginning for Austen’s comeback story. In mid January of 2021 Austen knocked over 90 seconds off his half marathon PR at the Naples Half Marathon! After some success in the beginning of 2021 Austen was involved in an accident that resulted in a broken ankle and lacerated posterior tendon. He "used the LEVER for almost every mile run from October 2021- October 2022." Despite yet another setback Austen continues to train and use his LEVER to work towards the goals he has set. He attributes his ability to stay healthy and become fitter than ever to running on his LEVER. Austen’s perseverance is inspiring and stories like his have been huge motivators for the LEVER Team to deliver the best product possible so everyone has the ability to stay healthy and accomplish their goals.
