Three DOC employees along with one retired state worker may have taken the prize for the longest distance traveled for a Special Olympics fundraising project.

Participants Jack Luukkonen Jr., Business Manager and Denise Gerth, Prison Counselor at Alger

Lynn Olson cerebrates the big finish.

Maximum Correctional Facility; Jack Luukkonen Sr., retired from the DOC; and Lynn Olson, RUM at Newberry Correctional Facility took on a ski trip hailed as the longest cross country ski event in the world. The trek takes place at the Artic Circle in Finland.

The fund-raising element was the brainchild of Luukkonen Jr. His idea was to make part of their adventure to Finland a Special Olympics Torch Ski. The trio raised $800 for Special Olympics.

Called the Rajalta Rajalle-hiihto or Border to Border, the guided ski tour departs from the Finnish-Russian border and concludes at the Finnish-Swedish border. The tour covered a distance of 440 kilometers or 273 miles over a period of seven days. Participants averaged more than 35 miles of cross country skiing a day.

The 10-day journey began March 9 with a flight from Chicago to Stockholm and then on to Helsinki for a one night stay and a quick day of sightseeing, shopping and some traditional Lappish cuisine such as reindeer and assorted fresh fish.

The next day the group flew north to Kuusamo and met up with 85 international skiers from the countries of Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Canada along with eight other skiers from the U.S.

Accommodations ranged from a school house to a hotel on a downhill ski run that required using a t-bar for access to the hotel.

Since the skiing took so much energy, the group had to consume more than 5000 calories per day. They took advantage of the opportunity by beginning each day with a huge breakfast and sampling warm lignonberry juice, raisins and oranges, blueberry soup, Finnish chocolate and dill pickles at stops along the way.

"We will long remember some beautiful scenery, the new friends made from the many different countries, being able to eat over 5000 calories a day, and the traditional Finnish saunas," said Olson. "Soon forgotten were the sore muscles, blisters, some mild frost bite, and enduring the zero degree Lappish weather."

Michigan Department of Corrections FYI 04-28-05