💥Trail Gangsta of the Month (December): Meet Maurice Lowman! 💥

Full Name: Maurice Lowman

Age: 42

Hometown: East Providence, RI

Current Residence: East Providence, RI

Occupation: Automotive Sales 

1. What is the significance of the panda to you? Is it your spirit animal?

That’s a definite yes! My grandmother gave me a panda bear stuffed animal when I was a toddler and I was obsessed with it. I grew up infatuated with pandas, from posters to National Geographic issues, I was hooked. My grandmother “nana” used to tell me I would be a runner when I grew up. Not really grasping what that meant and never excelling at youth athletics, it wasn’ t until much much later in life that I was introduced to running. I take a lot of pride in my bi-racial heritage and am black and white just like a panda. I also consider myself to be empathetic, loving and huggable. LOL! 

2. You have A LOT of energy. Where does this passion for life come from? 

I love that question. You are spot on when calling the energy a passion for life. My story is one of overcoming hardcore drug and alchohol addiction that included me hanging in the darkest corners of addiction and going back to that lifestyle well into my 30’s. I truly believe that I have been fortunate to cheat death on a minimum of two occasions, both from unintentional drug overdoses where Narcan was distributed to bring me back. I have lost physical freedom due to incarceration and mental freedom due to addiction. So to be free to wake up and get after anything I am on a constant “GRATEFULTOBEHEREHIGH” 

I have an attitude of “we have so much” and to get ANYTHING we don’t have - all we have to do is get up and go get it. It might take six months, it might take eight years, but if you want it you truly can have it. I mean how can you not be freakin’ amplified just knowing that?! We are alive. We are free. We are beautiful. We are strong. Positivity plus gratitude equals momentum - that is my song. 

3. How did you discover running? Is it connected to your commitment to sobriety? 

Running was always my go to exercise when I wanted a boost of self confidence or a quick fix to the “ I drank and partied too much last night” feeling.  I was never consistent with my once in a while 30-60 minute runs. Once I committed full time to a men’s rehabilitation facility, I turned to running immediately as my daily exercise. 30 minutes turned to 60, to two hours,  and then the day-dreaming desire to complete a  marathon.  

4. What inspired you to embark on a run streak? How long do you hope to keep it going?

I was already running daily and using a couple of different apps to log runs. My son’s stepdad suggested a 100 day streak having just completed one himself. In the back of my mind I though, “I’m already doing that, lets kick it up a notch and say EVERY SINGLE RUN WILL BE OUTSIDE NO MATTER WHAT.” So on 1/1/16 I started tracking my daily outside runs. THERE IS ZERO INTENTION TO EVER STOP aside from physically not being able to. The accountability of the streak including the social media aspect of it has gotten me through job loss, real life loss when we lost my son’s mother, weight gain, and numerous mental health struggles . 

5. What do you love most about the East Coast running scene?

We have it made here, we can run city streets, beach routes, trails, country roads, we have it all. What I do love most about it is the inclusiveness, there are clubs and groups everywhere and being on the road with others sharing the same passion truly fuels me up. There is a huge sense of community. Not being a professional or former collegiate athlete, or elite performer has never caused any roadblocks when it comes to participating in these events. I have embraced the role as a local cheerleader in small local races and I am continually grateful for the opportunities in the local community. 

6. What is your favorite race or race experience? 

Having dreamed of completing the Boston Marathon for years, speaking about it and only recently fully understanding the significance of the race history, the participants, the qualifiers, the charity entrants, the volunteers, etc. It is by far the most amazing experience to be on that course with the crowd and the other runners. The electricity in the atmosphere is just indescribable. 

7. You also love cars. If you could choose only one of these hobbies (running and cars) for the rest of your life, which would it be? 

You had to throw a super tricky changeup curveball in there, huh? I would choose running and I dream of being able to enjoy this hobby around the world. 

8. Do you have a particular song or anthem that best represents YOU?
“I love the idea of Outkast ‘So Fresh, So Clean’ constantly playing as my theme song. I may never be the fastest, but I dang sure try to keep up with the freshest!”

9. Thank you for your dedication to running for charity! Are there a couple of charities close to your heart that you would encourage others to donate to?

I am a proud member of TEAM RETT for their Boston Marathon Charity team. The charity is Rett Syndrome Association of Massachusetts: this group raises funds and awareness to help the community of families affected by Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. I am also a proud member of TEAM ELIXIR FUND for the NYC Marathon. The Elixir fund is a small non-profit organization that provides comfort and support services to cancer patients and their caregivers. Being able to run for those who cannot is an absolute blessing and allows me to give back while doing something I love. My active fundraising is usually just around the time of those annual events.