Barry Davis's
Pan-Massachusetts Challenge
to benefit the
JIMMY FUND
About the Pan-Mass Challenge
The Original 36
This group of pioneering riders didn't know at the time what their efforts during the very first PMC in 1980 would do for the event today.
The First Donation
Ken Coleman (L) receives the first PMC donation check from PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr. This $10,200 check was but a tiny drop in the bucket of what the PMC would eventually do today.
PMC Mission Statement
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since its founding in 1980, the PMC has successfully melded support from committed cyclists, volunteers, corporate sponsors and individual contributors. All are essential to the PMC's goal and model: to attain maximum fund raising efficiency while increasing its annual gift. Our hope and aspiration is to provide Dana-Farber's doctors and researchers the necessary resources to discover cures for all cancers.
PMC History
The PMC began in 1980 from the inspiration of a Newton, MA man named Billy Starr. Billy was an athlete and enjoyed being in the out of doors. He loved to hike and cycle. During a hike along the Appalachian Trail, and the loss of his mother and a cousin to cancer, Billy came up with an idea to honor their memories... a bicycling fund raiser for cancer research and treatment.
In 1980, Billy invited friends of his to cross Massachusetts on bicycles and raise money for the Jimmy Fund, the fund raising arm of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Thirty-six pioneering bicyclists left the Springfield Mall on a Saturday September morning and rode 220+ miles to Provincetown over 2 days. The "+" miles came from the fact that every rider got lost, for some upwards of 30 miles more. Despite the extra miles, these 36 riders raised and donated $10,200 for the Jimmy Fund.
Today, the PMC has attracted over 60,000 riders and 30,000 volunteers to help raise $303 MILLION for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber. For 31 years, the PMC has successfully managed getting thousands of riders from two starting lines in Sturbridge and Wellesley, MA to Provincetown and encourage those same riders to raise millions of dollars for cancer research and treatment.
