NFL AFC Championship VIP Experience – to benefit the PMC

Watch the New England Patriots take on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Jan. 22 in the AFC Championship game — and support the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.

Fallon Ambulance has donated a VIP Ticket Package for the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro including four tickets and a VIP parking pass.

Proceeds from this online auction will support the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Here are the details:

NFL AFC Championship
VIP Ticket Package – Auction on eBay

• New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens
• Four(4) Putnam Club Tickets in Section 33 Row 19
• VIP Parking Pass
• 100% of the auction proceeds to 2012 PMC
• Donated by Fallon Ambulance

Click here to bid on the auction.

PMC Registration open to all alumni

More than 900 people have already registered to ride in the 2012 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. Now it is your turn.

Registration is now open for all PMC alumni. Visit PMC.org to register to ride one of 11 routes in the 33^rd annual PMC, set for Aug. 4 and 5. Join us as the PMC rides toward a record fundraising goal of $36 million for cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Register now to secure your chosen route and your spot on the ferries out of Provincetown. Click here for all of the PMC logistics info. It’s going to be another GREAT PMC year.

Bike, Eat, Drink, and Sleep with DuVine Adventures and the PMC

Are you dreaming of bike season and warmer weather? Can’t wait for the 2012 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge weekend?

DuVine Adventures, a PMC sponsor, is inviting PMCers to hit the road in May for a unique PMC-themed bike trip lead by PMC Founder Billy Starr.

Bike tour company DuVine Adventures creates amazing excursions across the globe where world travelers “bike, eat, drink, sleep,” according to their motto.

Company founder Andy Levine has been a PMC cyclist for the past three years. In 2012, DuVine became an official PMC sponsor and will donate a portion of all proceeds to the PMC fundraising goal while also raising money through the company’s own PMC team.

Billy Starr and Andy Levine

“We have found adventure, friendship and inspiration through biking around the world,” Levine said. “The PMC has also made biking a vehicle for change in the fight against cancer. It is a natural for us to partner with an organization like the PMC that is doing so much good through biking, which we love to do. We also want to honor all of our colleagues, friends and family members impacted by cancer.”

To get into the PMC spirit this spring, DuVine is hosting the PMC Piedmont Bike Tour a week-long excursion inItaly’s northwest region. PMCers can receive a 12 percent discount and all net proceeds from this tour will be donated to the PMC.

Here’s how DuVine describes the adventure:

Wide open panoramas await you, with breathtaking views of the vineyards and medieval villages off to the distantAlps. Grapes flourish in the rugged soil and we will taste the area’s premier vintages at private tastings and with each meal. Discover the local hospitality in ancient towns, savor Michelin-starred meals and traditional dishes in family homes. You are guaranteed to feel like a native and never want to leave this corner ofItaly. Join the team of 24, train for the PMC and experience DuVine Style on a bike.

For more info or to learn more about DuVine Adventures, click here.

The PMC 2012 Season Begins Today

Happy New Year!

What better way to celebrate the new year than to register for the 2012 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.

Registration opens today for 2011 Heavy Hitters, the PMC’s leading fundraisers. On Jan. 10 all PMC alumni are invited to commit to the 2012 PMC.

Registration begins Jan. 17 for first time riders and will remain open to all until filled. Remember, routes do fill up.

This year, PMC cyclists can choose from 11 different routes, each of varying mileage and fundraising requirements. There is a PMC ride for everyone. Volunteer registration will open in the spring.

Join us as we ride toward a historic $36 million fundraising goal.

Lance Armstrong and Sen. John Kerry finish the 2011 ride

Here is more info from PMC Headquarters:

Pan-Massachusetts Challenge establishes record goal of $36 million

NEEDHAM, Mass.— The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge has set an all-time high fundraising goal of $36 million for the 5,500 cyclists who will ride up to 190 miles on Aug. 4 and 5, 2012 in the 33^rd annual bike-a-thon. The funds they raise will go to cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund and bring the PMC’s 33-year contribution beyond $374 million.

“The PMC is unique in terms the money our riders raise each year,” said Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr. “This group is passionate and committed. If any organization can reach this goal, it is the PMC.”

In 2011, PMCers raised and contributed $35 million to Dana-Farber, the largest sum ever raised by a single athletic fundraising event. On Aug. 4 and 5, 2012, cyclists – including Massachusetts Senators John Kerry (D) and Scott Brown (R) – will come from 36 states and eight countries to ride across the Commonwealth in the 33^rd annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. The PMC family is made up of 5,500 riders, 3,300 volunteers and 240,000 donors.

Connecting athleticism to charitable fundraising was a new idea in 1980 when Starr and 35 of his friends rode across Massachusetts and raised $10,200 for cancer research. Today, athletic events annually raise more than $5 billion, funding crucial programs at health and human service organizations. The PMC leads the pack and is the most efficient. PMC annually contributes 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar directly to the Jimmy Fund.

The PMC is so respected in cycling and fundraising circles that people travel from all over the world to participate. Cyclists choose between 11 routes that range from 25 miles to 190 miles. The camaraderie shared by cyclists, volunteers, and supporters is among the PMC’s greatest attributes. Doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute join their patients as teammates and ride for a unified goal. More than 300 PMC cyclists and volunteers are cancer survivors or current patients. Thousands of riders have lost loved ones to the disease. Still more ride in honor of those in treatment.

This summer, each cyclist commits to raising between $500 and $4,300 for the privilege of being a member of the PMC team. Ninety percent of all PMCers, however, exceed the minimum fundraising contribution and one-third raise more than twice the amount required.

The PMC is presented by the Red Sox Foundation and the New Balance Foundation. Another 200 companies support the event through donations of goods, services, and money. The PMC is nationally recognized as a model in fundraising efficiency; it generates 60 percent of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue and it is Dana-Farber’s largest contributor. “The PMC has made what we do at Dana-Farber possible,” said Edward J. Benz Jr., MD, president of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For more information about the PMC, visit pmc.org.

Thank You for a Successful 2011

Thank you to the 5,169 cyclists, the 3,300 volunteers, 240,000 donors, and hundreds of sponsors who supported the 2011 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.

Thanks to you, we donated a record-tying $35 million for lifesaving cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

2011 was a banner year for the PMC.

We celebrated the dedication and opening of the PMC Plaza at the state-of-the-art Yawkey Center for Cancer Care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Ed Benz and Billy Starr at the PMC Plaza dedication

The PMC’s donation of $183 million was the new center’s lead gift. The PMC is honored at the building through a sculpture entitled “Tandem,” which speaks to the way the PMC works to fund and support the groundbreaking research and care that takes place at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The PMC route is marked on bricks on the plaza.

We continued to foster a new generation of PMC cyclists as 35 PMC Kids Rides were held across New England. These young cyclists raised more than $800,000.

Marblehead Kids Ride

We honored our riders through events all year long including the First Year Heavy Hitter Wine Tasting, the annual Heavy Hitter Dinner, and PMC Night at Fenway Park, where 28 PMC cyclists — all cancer survivors — rode around the warning track of historic Fenway Park in a moving ceremony.

PMC Night at Fenway

We supported young cancer patients and their families through our Pedal Partner program, as they gave us the motivation to train and raise as much money as we could to fight cancer. We celebrated with 75 of our Pedal Partners during our annual Pedal Partner kick off party at Fenway Park in May. Many PMC teams continued a strong relationship with our Pedal Partner families all summer long.

Finally when PMC weekend arrived in August, riders, volunteers and the media were abuzz when cycling legend and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong joined our ranks.

Armstrong stopped to meet with Pedal Partners along the PMC route

Armstrong was among 350 cancer survivors who rode in this year’s ride, our Living Proof that the PMC makes a difference.

Sturbridge start

Living Proof 2011

May you and your family have a healthy, happy New Year. We will see you in 2012.

One more look back at PMC 2011

Registration for the 2012 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is right around the corner. But, before we go forward, let’s relive 2011 just one more time.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. on Boston’s WCVB Channel 5, catch the PMC on Chronicle. Click here for more info.

Here’s the show summary from WCVB, the PMC’s 2011 media sponsor:

Friday, December 30: Confronting Cancer

The Pan-Mass Challenge is the most successful athletic fundraising event in the nation. Since 1980, the bike-a-thon has raised 338 million dollars to fund research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Tonight, meet the man who’s been there from the beginning, Billy Starr, and learn about the personal story that spurs his anti-cancer fight. Plus, we’ll see how a new center at Dana-Farber is making cancer care more patient friendly.

Baring it all for the PMC

More than a dozen Pan-Massachusetts Challenge riders and supporters have stepped out of their comfort zone (and their clothes) all in the name of raising money for cancer treatment and research.

Baring It All For Cancer Research is a 2012 monthly calendar featuring undressed PMCers covered up tastefully and strategically in PMC jerseys, merchandise, signs and bikes.

Baring it All for Cancer Research

Veteran PMC rider Alan Clarance came up with the fundraising idea after watching the 2003 movie “Calendar Girls,” based on a true story of a group of women who posed nude for a calendar for charity, causing a media sensation.

Initially, Clarance’s teammates were luke-warm to the chilly idea of posing nude. Clarance challenged his teammates to put themselves out there for the cause.

“It was so fun to make,” Clarance said. “Sure, it was uncomfortable being out there, but we were all so committed to the cause, we made it happen.”

The calendar includes PMC riders and cancer survivors who ride in the PMC.

June 2012

Making the calendar was even more risqué for the participants: all of the photographs were shot outside in public, often with passers-by getting a look. The photos were taken in Manhattan and Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Mass.

Clarance is the feature photo for September, posing with his girlfriend, rider Shawn Bohen, covered only by a PMC sign.

Kelly Hardebeck, a three year rider, said posing for the calendar – she’s the back cover – was exciting.

“Training for and riding in the PMC stretches you physically, but then the ride is so rewarding,” Hardebeck said. “It’s easy to get addicted. The photo shoot was also an experience that stretched me, but we all know it’s for a good cause.”

The calendar costs $20, with all of the money raised supporting the PMC.

Photographers Debra Rose, Carmen Morosan, Andrea Fischman and The Essential Images all donated their services to create the calendar.

To purchase Baring it All for Cancer Research 2012 calendar contact Alan Clarance at aaclarance@yahoo.com.

January 2012

Letter of thanks from Dr. Ed Benz

PMC Holiday ornaments on sale

What’s the perfect gift for a PMCer? How about a Pan-Mass Challenge 2011 ornament?

Just in time for the holiday season, three different PMC 2011 ornaments are available for sale online at the PMC website.

Additional PMC 2011 merchandise is also for sale online at up to 75 percent off.

The ornaments are $12 each. Visit www.pmc.org to get yours.

PMC Check Presentation brings life back to Fenway Park

On Friday, Nov. 11, beautiful photographs from PMC 2011 lit up the score board and Jumbotron creating a brilliant halo over the field at Fenway Park. As images of orange and blue jerseys, gleaming bikes, and smiling faces of accomplished riders illuminated the park, 600 PMC riders, volunteers and supporters gathered inside the EMC club for dinner and drinks and to hear speakers announce the sum raised for cancer research by 5,100 committed cyclists.

A glowing Fenway

Inside, the conversations were not about which players should leave or those who should stay; instead PMCers spoke of the progress of a pedal partner, a teammate who is cancer free, and the PMC experiences over the years.

Sheldon Rothman‘s 83^rd birthday was on the same day as the PMC check presentation. “This was my best birthday yet,” he said. “I’m sharing it with my second family, the PMC.” Rothman is the PMC’s oldest two-day rider.

Longtime PMCer Sheldon Rothman

Melinda Mann toasted her 20^th PMC ride. This year she broke the $300,000 fundraising mark.

Melinda Mann

Several PMC teams celebrated their combined efforts to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars this year. Team Forza-G, Team Year Up and Team Pedal 2 the Mettle all brought their own oversized checks to the event.

Team Forza G

The check presentation marks the end of a tremendously successful 2011 PMC season where 5,169 riders, 3,000 volunteers and thousands of donors and sponsors took another significant step forward to funding cancer care and funding new research. The $35 million gift matches the PMC’s largest donation ever to DFCI.

PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr’s joy and enthusiasm about the sum raised was equaled only by his dedication to the PMC and his commitment to raise even more next year. “PMCers are a unique group who rise to the challenge. Every year, they set higher fundraising goals for themselves,” Starr said.

As Lisa Scherber, a PMCer and the director of Family and Patient Services at Dana-Farber/ Children’s Hospital, described the sounds of the PMC that make the “real riders” (riders who consider themselves cyclists) and the “imposters” (riders who can only be dragged onto their bikes for the PMC) come together, nods, smirks, and clapping swept through the crowd, as both new and life-long riders acknowledged the unique spirit of the PMC.

Lisa Scherber

Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino thanked riders and volunteers and reaffirmed the Red Sox Foundation’s commitment as a presenting sponsor of the PMC.

Finally, Dr. Ed Benz, Dana-Farber president, explained how much the PMC truly means to Dana-Farber. Because of drastic federal funding cuts, Benz said the PMC gift is not simply an addition to the budget each year; it is vital to finding the cure for cancer.

Before wrapping up Benz adjusted his now famous description of the PMC. He said, “When they write the book on how cancer was conquered, at this rate the PMC won’t just be chapter one, it will be the whole damn book.”

Billy Starr and Dr. Ed Benz