Age alone wasn’t about to stop Carol Larson.

And when she felt her wrist snap during a skills test last year, she decided that injury wasn’t going to stop her, either.

Larson’s mind was made up three years ago that she would one day step out on to the floor of a roller derby bout.

Or, certainly, she was going to bust herself up trying.

Larson is one of the most unlikely members of the 2015 Whidbey Island Roller Girls team.

Yet, she is clearly one of the most inspirational.

At age 68, she’s on the roster of a team with ladies who are not only young enough to be her daughter, but her granddaughter.

And although she might be a step behind in skating speed and endurance of her teammates, she might have everyone beat in perseverance.

“She radiates positive energy,” teammate Mary Arthur said. “Her attitude toward derby and life in general … she brings such a positive personal outlook to the league and it’s contagious.”

Larson, who lives in Anacortes, roller skated as a child and at different points in her life but never got the itch to try derby until she attended a Rat City Rollergirls bout at KeyArena in Seattle in 2012.

“The minute I saw the derby skaters, I just felt I had to do it,” Larson said.

Having managed to stay in good physical shape through walking and other activities, Larson felt compelled to tackle an imposing new challenge few at her age would consider.

She did some research and discovered the adult women’s team on Whidbey, liked the wooden floors at the Roller Barn and decided to attend a 10-week Whidbey Island Roller Girls boot camp in the summer of 2012 to learn the game and build up her strength.

The camp, offered twice a year, leads to a skills test, which determines if a player is bout ready.

It took three boot camps and one broken wrist before Larson’s derby name, “Itsa Mazin” landed on the team’s roster.

She broke her wrist while landing wrong during a skills test in 2013 and needed six months to mend before trying again.

“I didn’t fall like they teach you,” she said.

Even her husband, Max Stephens, started questioning her decision after the injury but remained supportive.

“I had a time when I was kind of discouraged and was thinking, ‘What am I thinking?” Larson said. “I spoke to the training committee and they were very, very encouraging. I’m with a really great team. I think my success of not dropping out has to do with the team and how encouraging they are.

“It’s a sport where you do get down on yourself. So many people are passing you by and you think, ‘Oh my gosh, I think I should do that.’ They don’t let you stay in that space. They are very encouraging and upbeat.”

Over the summer, Larson attended her third boot camp and finally passed her first skills test.

Last month, in Whidbey Island’s first bout of the season against a team from Vancouver, B.C., she saw her first action.

The retired computer-aided designer got on the floor eight different times, each segment lasting two minutes, on a Whidbey Island team that was awarded apprentice status this year by the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association.

“That was just so much fun,” she said. “I couldn’t quit smiling.”

“She is an inspiration not only to the people in this league but across the entire derby-verse,” said Arthur, who is 48. “People who are over 40, it gives us inspiration.

“I was thinking maybe I’ve got five more years in me. Maybe I have 15?”