Legs pedaling downward, sweat pouring down the faces of 5,500 amateur cyclists. The miles pile up, and those 5,500 people soon realize that this race is NOT an easy one. Hours logged on the road and feat soon become permanently wrapped around the pedals of 300 dollar racing bikes.
The sun sits high in the sky, it’s heating rays beating down and inducing additional waves of sweat across these riders' faces. But finally, the days of riding come to a close, mile 193 is completed, and the Pan Mass Challenge has concluded.
Exactly 33 years ago, Billy Star established the Pan Mass Challenge as a non profit charitable event aimed at providing money for crucial cancer research. Yet as time went on, this single event transformed into so much more as it soon became responsible for half of the charity: Jimmy Fund’s revenue, and became the largest contribute to the Dana Farber institute. Each year, over 5,000 riders take part in the event all hailing from 36 different states and 8 different countries. This race is massive
By 1990, the PMC had become the largest athletic based fundraiser on earth and by the year 2000, its presence was being felt to the exact extent that such a collection of philanthropist endeavors should be. To this day, 375 million dollars have been raised, 100% of which was sent to cancer research.
There are so many stories that hide behind this mighty event and each year, the heartwarming tales of survivors, relatives of victims and anyone brave enough to take on the PMC constantly touch your heart.
6 years ago, Tom Hopkins of Natick was told by doctors that due to a faulty hip replacement he would never be able to ride a bike again. But amidst his sadness, Hopkins was determined to keep riding as he "had lost so many to cancer” and “this is the cause I love to support."
"How many funerals are you going to go to before you try to push back a little?" he asked. "This was a chance to fight back in a different way."
But there is even more to this esteemed race, one that cannot be erased and one of similar athletic challenge to that posed by Boston Marathon. As of this 2013 challenge, riders have the opportunity to partake in any one of 9 different routes ranging from an easy 27 mile kick from Wellesley to Foxborough, to a grueling 192 mile 2 day fight from Sturbridge to Provincetown.
It's rides like these that connect cities and towns as, while I assume you all know, 192 miles is a LONG way.
In fact for Jennifer and Brigit Hogan, (two riders set to race this weekend) Brigit Hogan could closely recall sitting on her front door step and watching in awe as these riders flew past her child hood house that sat about 20 miles shy of the 192 mile two day race. "Those people are amazing," she would think. "I want to do what they're doing."
There truly is nothing like the Pan Mass Challenge. The fact that every day people, not Lance Armstrong esque guys paid millions to shoot illegal drugs into their blood streams, but every day people who have no storybook road to such an event. What makes the Pan Mass Challenge special is the fact that these everyday people can wake up on one August morning, jump on their bikes and ride for hours on end all to finish and do it all again the next day.
These are every day, normal people but THIS is not a normal race.
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