Personal Profiles
August 14, 2007
Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is more than just a bike ride
Team FLAMES pedals toward a cure
Dana-Farber oncologist George Demetri rides in his first PMC.
On the morning of Aug. 4, the last bit of cool in the air was quickly burning off by 6 a.m., signaling the day would be a true New England "scorcha" and one of the hottest weekends so far this summer. But throngs of folks were undeterred and had already lined the streets of Sturbridge to cheer on the more than 5,000 riders at the starting line and along the course of the 28th annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge bike-a-thon to benefit Dana-Farber.
Participants in this fundraising cycling event chose one of seven routes that crisscross the state, covering a distance of 50 to 192 miles for one or two days. Training for this event tones the legs and sculpts the physique. So, while this physical challenge may seem to be about what the body can endure, many cyclists will affirm that the athletic feat is actually mastered not only in the mind, but also in the heart. Among those holding this belief is David C. Fisher, MD, a member of Team FLAMES – Fast Legs and Minds to End Suffering – one of more than 50 teams that rode and raised money for the PMC this year.
"It is an emotional event to be a part of," explained Fisher, a hematologic oncologist with the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, who rode for the fifth consecutive time. "One year, I remember seeing a healthy child about 12 years old holding a poster with a picture from when the child was ill at age 4. It helps you pedal up those hills. That memory also gets me signed up every year."
Fisher, a latecomer to the 36-person team founded in 2001, was accompanied by fellow DFCI staffers Rich Boyajian, RN, MS, ANP, Dan DeAngelo, MD, PhD, and Kathleen McDermott, RN, as well as a dozen Dana-Farber patients, friends, and family members. The money Team FLAMES raises – more than $1.16 million to date – benefits lymphoma and leukemia research. In total, the 2007 PMC is estimated to generate $27 million for cancer care and research, an event record.
A nationally recognized model in fundraising efficiency, the bike-a-thon is the country's most successful athletic fundraising event. The PMC has three presenting co-sponsors – the Boston Red Sox Foundation, Overstock.com, and Covidien – along with 200 in-kind sponsors and 2,600 volunteers, who help make the weekend happen.
Seeing the impact
Cancer and bikes have seemingly always gone together for Neil Goldberg. Cycling was a pastime that he and his dad shared from his early childhood. At age 13, he and his father completed their first 100-mile bike ride together. So participating in the PMC in honor of his father, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1984 at age 55, came naturally. Goldberg would also eventually receive his own cancer diagnosis.
Goldberg, 49, has completed the two-day ride nine times since 1999, cycling either from Sturbridge or Wellesley to Provincetown. In 2001, he asked to be paired with a Pedal Partner. This program connects PMC cyclists with a pediatric cancer patient for whom they ride. Sadly, the 2-year-old boy died. Yet, Goldberg, who still keeps in touch with the family and even rode one year with the boy's father, says it was a remarkable experience.
"The boy's dad wrote me a thank-you note saying how all the extra things Dana-Farber did really helped them and the boy through it all. Many of these extras were paid from private fundraising," explains Goldberg. "Seeing the impact the money made firsthand deepened my commitment. I've taken fundraising much more seriously ever since."
Riding isn't the only way to take part. Volunteers, who do everything from administer first aid to serve food and water, are the event's "unsung heroes," says Goldberg.
Ironically, Goldberg became a patient of Fisher's in 2004, when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
"Having a doctor of David's caliber and personal qualities, and having the support and love from family and friends, I have now come to look at my cancer diagnosis in a holistic way. All the elements make the PMC a positive and transforming experience," says Goldberg, who joined Team FLAMES this year.
"During the course of the ride you connect with people and hear their cancer stories. As challenging as this disease can be, I think of the PMC as a positive ball of energy and light to help people through an extremely dark time," says Goldberg. "It's so much more than a bike ride!"
