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Folks from the San Lorenzo Valley push their bodies to the limit with multi-day races over varied terrain.
They call it “adventure racing.” Usually, the sport involves trail running, mountain biking and kayaking, but it might require swimming, canoeing, rappelling or other skills.
What’s more, participants might not even know ahead of time what to expect of a race — or even the route.
More than anything, it takes endurance.
“You push your body to its limits,” said Mila Olson, one of the four members of San Lorenzo Valley’s Team Lucky.
During the week, Olson is the music teacher at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School and SLV and Boulder Creek elementary schools.
San Lorenzo Valley music teacher Mila Olson leads the pack as Team Lucky practices Friday, Aug. 3, for an adventure race. The team’s next challenge will be a three-day, 250- to 300-mile race in Utah. Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner
Team Lucky is the only adventure racing team in Santa Cruz County, though some students participate at University of California, Santa Cruz.
Olson’s partners are her husband, Jeremy Olson, a Ph.D. candidate in physics at UC Santa Cruz; Johnny Ryan, owner of Ryan’s Express, a freight company; and Bob Lapanja of Sacramento, a high school cross country buddy of Jeremy Olson’s.
The team started after Jeremy Olson tried a short race in 2001.
“The team aspect appealed to me,” he said. “I had been a Marine, and this was just a two- to four-hour race. All I could think of was doing a six- or 12- or 24-hour race. I didn’t think I could do it, and that’s what had me come back.”
In adventure racing, the objective isn’t getting there first, but rather keeping one’s team together and finishing at all.
In 2004, Jeremy convinced Mila to join him in a 24-hour race. They ended up in fourth place.
“We were lucky,” he said — and that’s where they got the team name.
Next up for Team Lucky is a three-day race in Moab, Utah. The X-stream Expedition is a 250- to 300-mile race Sept. 27 to 30. Entrants have been advised that rappelling skills will be required.
In June of next year, the team will attempt the 10-day Primal Quest, the biggest race in the U.S. The location so far is secret.
Winning teams often are ages 40-plus.
“It takes money to compete, and it takes years to build up the endurance required,” Olson said.
But the local team is much younger than 40, and Ryan is the sole team sponsor so far.
“Without Johnny’s sponsorship, we never would have gotten to where we are,” Olson said.
To sponsor Team Lucky, contact Jeremy Olson at 336-8870.
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