Why I‘m Riding. (here’s the link to my fundraising page)

I rode the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) 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 every year for the rest of my life. 

2019 will be my third PMC. And this year, I'm riding with Team Path To The Cure - a group of pediatric oncologists, healthcare professionals and Boston business leaders who are on the frontlines of the war against cancer everyday. 

In the 1950's pediatric blood, bone marrow, and lymph node cancers were uniformly fatal.

ZERO chance of survival.

Using the then-innovative concept of chemotherapy, a Children's Hospital Boston pediatric pathologist, Dr. Sidney Farber, was the first to induce a remission in a child with the blood/bone marrow cancer acute lymphoblastic leukemia (known as ALL) Since then, the state-of-the-art has progressed to the point where more than 90% of children with ALL will be cured. This is not the case for other pediatric cancers, which continue to evade even the most sophisticated treatments of this era. But with continued research and support, these diseases could prove to be equally surmountable.

I work in design and innovation where we dream up cool shit for the future; my new teammates actually go to work to cure cancer everyday. They are true heroes whose work is life-changing and life-saving.

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 from all of you.

But I quickly learned that becoming part of the PMC had absolutely nothing to do with me. The world’s strongest, most powerful brands and organizations are ones who are purpose-driven – they’re on a mission to create change and improve lives. They are 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.. Or pediatric cancer patients themselves. Or from PMC Living Proof riders – cancer survivors who ride the PMC annually. A family sitting on the roadside holding up pictures of cancer patients in their family - which always brings me to tears.

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 pediatric cancer by bicycle.

In 2019 and for as many years as I can.

That’s why I ride. 

Thanks for donating! (here’s my donation page)

#WhyIRIde #PanMass2019 #TeamPathToTheCure

About the Pan-Mass Challenge

The PMC is the world’s largest sports-related fundraiser, raising over $56 million in 2018 and more than $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.

About Team Path To The Cure

More about Team Path at their website.