What is the PMC?

I should have answered this first...

The PMC, or Pan-Mass Challenge, is a 2-day, 192-mile bicycle fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund which, in turn, is the main fundraiser for cancer treatment & research at The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The PMC generates almost fifty percent of the Jimmy Fund’s total revenue and is the Jimmy Fund’s single largest contributor. In 2006, 4,270 PMC cyclists raised $26 Million – 99% of which went directly to cancer treatment and research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, making the PMC a model of fundraising efficiency. In the 27 years since the PMC first started, over $171 million has been generated for the Jimmy Fund.

This year’s PMC will occur on the weekend of August 4th and 5th. The first day starts in Sturbridge and ends in Bourne (a 111-mile day); the second day continues the ride from Bourne to the tip of the Cape (an 81-mile day).

Why have we decided to participate in the PMC? Here is the short answer: because we did it last year, and because it was fun. But the long answer is much more complicated. We first participated in the PMC as a way to help remember the loved ones we had lost to cancer over the past few years. It was a way to DO something, instead of just feeling sad and overwhelmed. We've put a lot of time, and a lot of effort into funding cancer treatment and research at Dana-Farber with the hope that it will one day benefit those we know and love. Or maybe it will benefit people we don't even know, and that's something to feel good about too. Either way, we're actively doing something that will help benefit us all further down the line. We hope.

Hope. That is the one word that sums up the PMC. We make hope. You hear 'hope' a lot during the ride, and it gets under your skin, and you start to believe in it. Its a wee-bit intoxicating. Hope that one day someone will find a cure. Hope that treatments will become better, faster, and more reliable. Hope that we may learn how to better prevent cancer.