People often ask me why I ride the Pan-Mass Challenge (the PMC - www.pmc.org), which I'll be riding for the 24th time* in early August.

Easy answer - it’s a great event for an even better cause, funding for cancer research and treatment). This year's PMC will again be back to the regular PMC routes post-pandemic. While we are back to normal post-pandemic, cancer hasn't gone away so our fight against it - and fundraising - won't stop either.

Longer answer: back in 1999, Julie and I did the Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston with some cousins, one of whom had a son who had been treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ( http://www.dana-farber.org/ ) in Boston when he was very young. It's a great cause, but walking 13 miles over the Boston Marathon course was not fun. I casually mentioned to my cousin that I would prefer to bike the course, and he told be about the PMC, which is a two day ride from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown, MA, covering 192 miles. I lost my friend Bill - who was a father figure and mentor - too early when he died of leukemia in 1995, and my best friend Mikkael (now a cancer doctor at Syvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami) was doing his fellowship at Dana Farber. It sounded like a great cause and fun weekend. I had no idea.

So the next year, 2000, I bought a road bike and rode my first PMC with Mikkael. We did the one day ride from Sturbridge to Bourne - 110 miles in one day. The day was filled with biking mishaps, and I’d never ridden more than about 30 miles. I was sore for days - but knew I was doing in the next year. And so on and now I’m riding for the PMC for again this year.

It may be hot, and it may be raining. It may be both. It may be tiring (we'll see how all this training helps!). It will be a great weekend regardless. We'll ride from Sturbridge to Bourne, spend the night in Bourne, then ride from Bourne to P'Town the next day. Here's hoping for good weather!

The best part is seeing the people whose lives have been positively impacted by the cancer research and treatment at Dana Farber, and how the PMC has contributed to that.

This year I’m riding for several very good friends and family who have different types of cancer. Unfortunately, we are not doing enough to fight this disease, and government funding has not been sufficient to find a cure. I am hoping for your support in my ride to find a cure to beat cancer. You can donate here (or send me a check, made payable to PMC):

https://egifts.pmc.org/DN0013

Before I finish, here are few things to know:

• In 2023, the PMC donated $72 million to Dana-Farber.

• The PMC has raised $972 million for Dana-Farber since its launch in 1980. Today, the PMC is the single largest contributor to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund and is responsible for approximately 62 percent of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue.

• The PMC donates 100% of every rider-raised dollar directly to cancer research and treatment. None of your donation goes to administration or overhead.

• My personal goal for 2024 is $10,000 - and the PMC's is $75 million.

Thanks for your support, and wish me luck on my ride.

Doug

*Every year since 2000 except 2004, when I was at a memorial service - but still raised my minimum - so the PMC counts this as my 25th!