Pan Mass Challenge Riders Pedal for a Cure

Pedaling up to 190 miles across the state may be an exhausting idea, but the first time Bill Richards of Marlborough did the Pan Mass Challenge, he didn't have to look far for the motivation to keep going. 

"Once you jump on the bike and see the little kids cheering you on while you ride, you can't not do it again," said Richards, who will ride the PMC for the third time in the past four years next month. "There are kids on the route holding up signs that say 'thank you, I'm alive because of you.' The first time I saw that I just thought, oh my God this is amazing. was almost overwhelmed right there on my bike."

Richards, 33, is one of 11 riders from Marlborough and more than 5,500 overall who will saddle up for the 33rd edition of the Pan Mass Challenge on Aug. 4 and 5. This year, the PMC hopes to raise $36 million, adding to the $338 million the event has raised since it was founded in 1980. Because sponsors fund the ride and all logistics, all money raised by riders goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 

This year, Richards will do a shorter, 50-mile ride, a nod to the challenge of raising the $6,500 required to take part in the full 190-mile ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown. "It's tough out there," he said. "Its hard to go back to people year after year in this kind of economy."

Still, Richards is motivated and is close to his fundraising goal of $1,000 for this year's ride. "I tell my friends to have one less beer on a weekend and give me the $5. They usually end up giving me $20." 

He sees the ride as a small thing he can do to help battle cancer, which he said "touches everybody from every walk of life."

"I'm never going to step up to the plate at Fenway Park and hit a home run. I'm never going to be a doctor and actually cure cancer myself. But I can jump on my bike for a weekend and raise a little money and it might some day help somebody."
You can support Richards' ride by visiting his fundrasing page on the PMC Web site: http://www.pmc.org/profile/BR0089. 

The other Marlborough riders taking part in this year's PMC are: Raymond O'Hara, Christine Brown, Dana Cosby, Monica Cunningham, Lindsay Park, Mike and Rachel Ravesi, David Steier, Atilla Terzioglu and Donald Weber.