This is our seventh year riding the PMC, but it always feels like the first time when we arrive in Wellesley on that Saturday morning in August. The ride into the P-Town Inn has special meaning each time we roll through the finish. It's the end of riding with a great group of people for a special young boy. It also means we're that much closer to raising $1,000,000 to help the researchers at DFCI find a cure for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

PMC has become a 2-day celebration of life and we look forward to all the little things we experience along the road to Provincetown; the emotion of the start in Wellesley, the family that hands out Tootsie Pops on Day #1 (and hoping for a red one), breakfast at Dr. Ben's with the best support crew anyone could ask for, the high fives coming into the stop in Wareham before our final journey to Bourne and a welcome shower. Day #2 brings different feelings as we ride through all the towns on the Cape. People lining the roads, rain or shine, to thank us for riding an event to eradicate cancer. We look forward to the final miles, with Tim & Aimee leading the way into the finish at the P'Town Inn.

Everything we do from January through October is all about raising money, and awareness, for DIPG; it has become who we are and it is a mission we tackle with the same spirit that our sweet nephew fought this terrible disease.

Our nephew Evan was diagnosed with DIPG, in November of 2011 and passed away in November 2012; exactly a year after his diagnosis. He was diagnosed by the doctor's at Dana-Farber while at Boston Children's Hospital. Evan had a way of making all the people he met smile. It warms our hearts to hear our girls, and their cousins, continue to relive the stories of Evan's crazy antics . . . he would do anything to get a laugh! Evan could be telling a joke, doing something silly or trying to get your attention in some appropriate (or inappropriate) way, but he always managed to put a smile on your face. We ride for Evan - his memory, his courage, and his spirit.

Team Evan's Crew is now a fixture along the roads of Massachusetts during Day one of the Pan Mass Challenge. In four years, Team Evan's Crew has raised over $770,000 (on our way to $1,000,000!) to support DIPG research at Dana Farber, in the fund named in Evan's memory. We can't thank you all enough!

Thanks for reading,

Jay

I thank all of you who supported Evan's Crew at the Pan Mass Challenge.

All donations will help to fund DIPG research at Dana Farber and be sent to the Evan Mandeville DIPG Research Fund.

My Links

Evan's Crew Facebook page

Evan's Crew Website

Team Evan's Crew