This will be my first year riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, after supporting my wife Cathy Ellis in her previous eight PMCs. The fight against cancer is one that is close to my heart, and I will be riding in memory of my father, Jack Tobin.
Jack was an avid athlete all his life and one of the top US ski racers of his era. He was Captain of the Dartmouth College Ski Team and competed in the famous 1939 Inferno downhill race from the summit of Mount Washington down to Pinkham Notch via the headwall of Tuckermans Ravine. During World War II he joined the Navy and served on seven war patrols in the Pacific aboard the submarine Stingray. Jack continued to compete in Master's ski racing all his life, and in the mid-1960s authored The Fall Line, a book based on his ski experiences. He was a fitness buff long before it was fashionable and took up bicycle racing in his fifties. We all expected him to live to a ripe old age but he unexpectedly passed away from cancer at age 66. I'd been an occasional cyclist since my teens, but after I inherited his light Italian racing bike I fell in love with the sport anew and I have stayed with it ever since.
I can't think of a better way to support the battle against cancer and to honor the memory of my father than to ride my bike in the PMC. It is the largest fundraising ride in the country, and unlike many other charitable opportunities, every single dollar that you donate goes directly to fight cancer. All administrative and organizational costs are covered by rider fees and corporate sponsorship - not your donations!
Cathy and I are both members of Team Kermit, which was formed by Steven Branfman in memory of his son Jared, who bravely fought brain and spinal tumors for 2-1/2 years before passing away at age 23. 100% of the money raised by Team Kermit goes through the PMC into the Jared Branfman Sunflowers for Life Fund for Pediatric Brain and Spinal Cancer Research. Your donations directly fund critical research at the Dana Farber Institute which is resulting in new lifesaving treatments for pediatric brain cancer patients. Pediatric brain cancer research receives comparatively little funding, which makes the whopping $5.3 million that Team Kermit has raised even more impressive and essential. Your contributions are making a difference!
This August, Cathy and I will ride many miles to do our part to support the fight against cancer. I hope you will join us!
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Jack Tobin, 1917-1984. Photo circa 1943.
Team Kermit's Pedal Partner, Declan Vail, and his brother Tegan.
Team Kermit
