For 40 years, the Pan Mass Challenge’s (PMC) mission has been to save lives, with the ultimate goal being a cancer-free world. Every August, thousands of participants get on their bikes to ride the 2-day trek down to Provincetown while securing donations for the fight against cancer. However, with all that has been thrown at us with the Covd-19 Pandemic, PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr had to make a hard decision about the event.  On May 1, he delivered a painstakingly tough message to the riders that in order to protect the PMC family there would be no actual ride this summer. Instead, he decided to reimagine the 2020 PMC weekend.

With all the health considerations surrounding Covid-19, Starr felt that it was impossible to deliver a high-quality experience while guaranteeing the safety of the PMC riders. The PMC represents something that is at the core of each and every rider’s lifestyle and values; the many months and miles of training along with year-round fundraising efforts are the lifeblood of the Dana Farber Institute.

Norwood’s Viki Carrieri is one of those riders. The Norwood native first took to the two-day event back in 2002 when she did the Sturbridge to Provincetown route biking 192 miles over two days in early August. Carrieri would jump aboard her bike once again in 2003 before taking some time off before getting in the fold as a volunteer when her daughter got involved. Last summer, she climbed upon her bike again and pedaled her way down the Cape taking part in the one-day event beginning in Wellesley.

This year, she was once again committed fir the full ride for the Dana Farber Institute and the fight for cancer when everything was shut down.

“I was really excited about it this year, but when it was reimagined it was a bit disappointing,” Carrieri said. “I ride to contribute to the research efforts that give people who have been diagnosed with cancer hope and I hope that some day we will see a cure.” 

The Norwood native rides for Team Lungstrong, benefiting lung cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute under the direction of Dr. Pasi Janne. She also rides in memory of Joseph Tafaro and her grandmother Mary Jacobs. 

While the PMC riders will not all be participating in the event as they have in past years, they will still be riding on the weekend of August 1 and 2. Riders will have the opportunity to design their own routes while being connected to the Strava app. Strava will track their mileage and pace during the ride as well as their training schedule so people can see what they are doing.  There will also be a virtual remote kickoff as well as a recap at the end of both days. 

“It will be a little sad that first weekend on August not riding with everyone,” Carrieri said. “The PMC is a camaraderie of people all riding together for the same cause. It’s not only the riders, but all the supportive people you pass along the route. Seeing these people cheer you on gives you that push to continue.”

Carrieri will continue to ride her practice route, which is in the vicinity of Wellesley to Bourne, much like the PMC route. In riding that route, she has continued to see a lot of other PMC riders in the area training. 

Although the training portion of the event is still pretty much the same routine, the experience will be a lot different this year, but it will still have the same effect – fundraising for a cure.

“The actual day of the event finds yourself riding along so many people as well as all the supporters you meet along the way fighting for the same cause,” Carrieri said.  It’s special and will defiantly be missed this year.”

With everything that was happening in the world due to the pandemic, Carrieri was apprehensive about fundraising this year.

“I really didn’t know if I was going to meet my goal of $5000 this year,” Carrieri concluded. “How could I aske people for money with Covid-19 all around us. Unexpectantly, about one month before the PMC weekend I hit my goal.  I felt bad because I wasn’t sending out letters or asking for donations, but people still managed to go to my page and support me; they are so generous.”