Why I Ride.
Because cancer sucks. F#@K CANCER. And I'm driven to deliver the cure to cancer by bicycle.
I rode the Pan-Mass Challenge for the first time in 2017 and was so overwhelmed by the movement that Billy Starr and his incredible PMC team have built that I made a promise to myself to ride (or run the Boston Marathon) to raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute every year for the rest of my life.
2021 will be my fourth PMC after 2020's Virtual Boston Marathon. With over $25k raised for Dana-Farber Cancer Center over the past 5 years. A very small amount in relation to the $50m+ that PMC raises annually, adding up to nearly $1B in 42 years - but potentially life-changing for a cancer patient and their family.
We all get fundraising emails from friends, family, work colleagues, neighbors every week, not to mention the “junk” mail we get in our mailbox. Each cause is worthy. Each one represents people, families and loved ones in need. Impossible to say that one is more deserving than another.
When I decided to ride in my first PMC in 2017, it was because our team at Breakaway got involved as a sponsor and partner and I felt obligated. And if I’m brutally honest, it was really for me. To prove to myself that I could do something difficult. To set a goal and attain it. And to try something new. I knew it would be hard to ride 200 miles on a bike from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown, MA, not to mention the training that goes into it and beating the challenge of raising $5,000.
But I quickly learned that becoming part of the PMC had absolutely nothing to do with me. The world’s strongest brands and organizations are the ones on a mission to create change and improve lives. They are true human movements. Not just thousands of people moving on bikes, but hundreds of thousands of people helping to rid the world of cancer through their donations.
I was instantly part of something much bigger than riding a bike. And so is everyone who donates.
For the entire PMC weekend – all along the roads, at every rest stop and from everyone lining the route, all I heard was “Thank you for riding!” Whether from a volunteer. Another long-term rider. A family sitting on the roadside holding up pictures of cancer patients in their family. Or pediatric cancer patients themselves. Or from PMC Living Proof riders – cancer survivors who ride the PMC annually.
The training, the miles, the weather and the fundraising are all hard. And yeah – the hills and the miles suck. But the pain goes away very quickly when you see children with cancer cheering you on. Its impossible not to be motivated when you know that the thousands of riders and volunteers are helping the team at Dana-Farber is getting closer to a cure every day that will help those children you see. And their families.
Yeah, it's cool to complete a 2 day, 192 mile ride across MA.
But now I’m more driven to help deliver the cure for cancer by bicycle.
In 2021 and for as many years as I can.
That’s why I ride.
Thanks for donating!
#WhyIRIde #PanMass2021
About the Pan-Mass Challenge
The PMC is the world’s largest sports-related fundraiser, raising over $51 million in 2017 and nearly $600 million since 1980, every dollar of which has gone directly to Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. More about the PMC at their website.
