Researcher Passes 300th Rider Mark
Hollings researcher Shaun Olsen becomes the 300th rider to register for LOWVELO.
Drum roll, please.
LOWVELO passed the 300th rider mark with the registration of Hollings Cancer Center researcher Shaun Olsen. An assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MUSC, Olsen’s research focuses on the structural biology of proteins involved in signal transduction.
He decided to sign up for the 25-mile route after speaking with Hollings Cancer Center director, Gustavo Leone.
“His enthusiasm for LOWVELO is contagious. I think it’s an excellent cause. It’s increasing awareness both within the MUSC and Hollings community, as well as people outside in terms of enthusiasm for cancer research and just a general awareness of cancer research. I think that it’s a great cause and something that I’m happy to participate in and support.”
Not only does Olsen see this as a great opportunity to support Hollings Cancer Center research efforts, but he also sees it as an opportunity to be healthy. “I think it’s a good excuse or a good reason to try to become a little bit more health conscious and to build up towards something. There are the external reasons for doing it, but then there’s the internal reasons and trying to improve oneself as well.”
Olsen’s plan is to start incorporating more exercise in his regular day-to-day activities to begin his training. “I’ll probably stretch out bike rides more than just going to and from my house. I’ll be going over the Ravenel (bridge) to get some hills in there and incorporate some running over the summer.”
When asked about how he felt about being the 300th rider, Olsen says, “I like square numbers. 300 is a nice square number, and it’s three-tenths of the way to 1,000. It’s just a milestone to larger numbers. So let’s go! Please sign up.”
Shannon Rice, manager of LOWVELO, is happy that they’ve hit and surpassed the 300 mark. She says, “Every 100th rider we hit is a fantastic milestone. The more riders, the more visible our cause and the best chance we have to eradicate cancer.”