A tale of two riders: Pan-Mass Challenge sparks need to rideDate: 7/13/2023 Say cancer research and people around the world, but especially in Massachusetts, will think of the Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute in Boston.
Performing state-of-the-art research comes with a hefty price tag and for 43 years, the Jimmy Fund has raised money for that research, in part, through the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon in which people ride from as far west as Sturbridge to end at the tip Cape Cod, in Provincetown.
East Longmeadow resident Ann Keiser has been one of those people for 20 years. In 2003, Keiser’s sister suggested they cycle from Sturbridge to Bourne on the day-one leg of the Pan-Mass Challenge. “As soon as I crossed into Bourne, I said, ‘We should have done both days.’”
Keiser’s said her husband, Jack Keiser, helped as a volunteer for a few years before he “finally caught the bug,” and began riding with her in 2010.
Jaime Polep, of Longmeadow, is riding the Pan-Mass Challenge for the first time this year. Polep’s father died of metastatic prostate cancer 15 years ago. “When they found [the cancer], it was stage four,” she said.
“We’ve always done the Jimmy Fund Walk,” but Polep’s brother, Jake Webber participated in the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2022 and asked her to do it with him this year. They will also be riding with two of Polep’s friends.
She said she has never been much of a cyclist, and this is her first time on a road bike. “I had to buy all the gear just for this,” she said.
Like any major athletic event, people train before undertaking the Pan-Mass Challenge. On hot days, the Keisers will sometimes ride the shady Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in Westfield, but usually train on the streets in the towns around East Longmeadow. “We’re careful about riding,” on roads where there are no bike lanes, she said.
A mother of two, Polep said it has been hard to train. She has been riding three times a week, building stamina. The farthest she has ridden at a time is 50 miles. “It sounds like a lot, but that’s only half of the course,” she said. Polep is riding the one-day course from Sturbridge to Bourne. “No big deal,” she said with a laugh about the 110-mile stretch. “I’m hoping the energy and adrenaline will be enough to pull my through.”
Keiser said the ride is tiring, but the cause keeps her going. “I ride for people that had cancer. There’s just way too many of them. I’m lucky to be healthy enough to ride,” she said. There are rest stops at about 20-mile intervals. Leading up to the rest stops, she said there are poster sized pictures of children who have survived cancer thanks to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
“Some of them don’t have any hair. You look at them and think, ‘And I’m complaining because my legs are sore?’”
The Pan-Mass Challenge has become more flexible over time. There are now 16 routes that allow riders to travel between 25 and 211 miles, depending on preference.
“There is another starting point in Wellesley. It’s about 25 miles less” than starting in Sturbridge, Keiser said. She added that some people will start in the Berkshires, “to make it a true Pan-Mass Challenge,” but any routes west of Sturbridge are not official.
The Pan-Mass Challenge engaged riders during the coronavirus pandemic with its “reimagined riders” option. Despite the event taking place the first weekend in August each year, reimagined riders can ride wherever, whenever and however far they want. “This is the most flexible of all PMC options and is a way to be a part of the PMC community in a manner that best suits your lifestyle,” states the Pan-Mass Challenge website.
There are also “virtual riders,” who engage in the fundraising component but do not ride in the event.
The Pan-Mass Challenge is co-presented by the Red Sox Foundation and M&T Bank and organized by The Jimmy Fund. The Jimmy Fund raises more than 60% of the insitute’s annual revenue. According to The Jimmy Fund, the event raises more money for charity than any other athletic fundraising event in the country.
All the money riders raise goes to the research, treatment and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Last year, the event raised $69 million and $900 million has been raised over the 43 years the Pan-Mass Challenge has existed. This year’s goal is to raise $70 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Next year, Keiser said she will have raised over $250,000 over 21 years through the Pan-Mass Challenge. She said many people donate every year.
“It’s not a hard ask. Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. You say Dana-Farber, and they say, ‘Yeah, sure.’”
Polep said the fundraising is going well. “Everyone has been so generous. It’s a good cause,” she said. “Dana-Farber is an amazing hospital that has helped so many people. We’re all so lucky that we’re close, God forbid we need it.”
Over 43 years, there have been 41,142 riders and 77,724 volunteers. There is a “huge need” for volunteers, Keiser said. People are needed to help with everything from setting up and breaking down the course to helping hand out food and water at rest stops. People travel from 43 states and 8 countries to participate or volunteer for the ride. Keiser said a card hangs behind the riders’ bike seat with their name, where they are from and how many years they have been riding. “People will ride up from behind you and cheer you on,” Keiser said. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m for East Longmeadow, too.’”
The Jimmy Fund hosts several other fundraising cycling events throughout the year, including the PMC Winter Cycle at Fenway Park; PMC Unpaved, an offroad gravel ride in the Berkshires and PMC Kids Rides — short fundraising bike-a-thons for ages 2 through 15. The organization also hosts the half-marathon Jimmy Fund Walk and gold tournaments to raise money for cancer research and care.
For more information about the Pan-Mass Challenge, visit pmc.org.
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