2023 will be my 7th Pan Mass Challenge, but it's going to be a different type of ride: in 2022 PMC added an additional new type of ride, a one-day ride in September on gravel roads in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. I have become very fond of riding gravel roads in the last few years: the roads are often very quiet and in farmland and in wooded hilly terrain. I find gravel rides to be very beautiful and restorative. So I'm very happy to have a new way to ride the PMC.
As always, my ride will be dedicated to Ebit's memory, though I carry with me an ever-increasing list of people affected by cancer, my "Why I Ride" list.
Last year I was honored to ride the PMC with my daughter, Ellen, and three of my closest college friends, which we called Team Blue Heron, as the Blue Heron was the favorite bird of my late wife, Ebit Speers. We were also part of a larger team, Team Crank, based in Acton, MA, which has many wonderful teammates and had matching funds that helped us double the money we were able to raise. This is best way I know to honor Ebit's memory is to continue to help raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by riding the Pan Mass Challenge so that current and future drug trials may someday find a cure for Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma and other cancers.
The PMC raised $69 million in 2022--the largest annual amount ever--to support the Jimmy Fund for Dana–Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. They have raised over $900 million since 1980. Best of all, 100% of the money raised goes directly to support Dana-Farber and cancer research. What Dana-Farber does medically is amazing and their pace of discovery is breathtaking.
If you can manage, we would so appreciate having your support this year, to help Dana-Farber find the best therapies and cures for the myriad cancers and the people who seek their care.
With deepest gratitude,
David McCormick
