In a “normal” year, the first weekend in August would find me with thousands of other riders embarking on the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer institute (DFCI). This year, however, is anything but normal. In the wake of the pandemic, which has hit Massachusetts particularly hard, safety dictates that the PMC be “re-imagined” into a very different event.
For my 10th PMC I will once again ride with your support but not with thousands of others on a common course. We will each create our own rides individually or with a small circle of friends and on our own courses. We will commemorate our rides with small celebrations and connect to online events that will bring all of us together. I’m waiting to finalize my own plans until I see how things look in a few weeks.
As PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Star puts it: "The 41st PMC may be our hardest ride yet, as we ride separately, socially distant, yet bound together by our mission — funding cures for cancer.”
I am riding and asking for your support because while the event may be re-imagined virtually, the mission and the need remain very real. COVID-19 has managed to pause some aspects of each of our lives but it has done nothing to stop cancer. Only the world class research and treatment performed by the extraordinarily talented and committed doctors, nurses, researchers and staff at DFCI can do that - and they need our support now more than ever.
