Austen has set his rehab challange as running the Moro 1/2 marathon in under 1 hour 50 minutes. This challange is a goal after his spinal injury in 2011, which left him unable to walk. With a strong will, good support and lots of work he is progressing well and aims to achieve this goal in September 2012

All money raised by Austen, from people supporting him to achieve this goal will go to the Chair of Neurosurgery at Otago University. Based in Dunedin, the Chair (Professor) will be helping to provide vital neurosurgical services to all in the south and developing an clinical research hub at Otago University.