Our partner, Steven Weil, along with his sons, Michael & Daniel, will ride in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge (the “PMC”). The PMC is an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Founded in 1980, the PMC has raised over $800 million to support cancer research and treatment. This year’s ride will be Weil’s 15th and his son’s 2nd. Weil began riding in 1995, with Toby’s Team, a group of high school and college friends searching for a way to support one of their teammates’ mothers, who was then in the midst of a 16-year battle against ovarian cancer. Weil rode in several PMCs in those years, but then took time off when his sons were young. He began riding again in 2011, a year after losing his father to melanoma and has ridden every year since. His sons joined him last year, as have many children of the original Toby’s Team members. Weil says, “Over the years, Toby’s Team has formed a close bond and a deepened sense of purpose, which now includes many of our kids who often gleefully whiz by us. We are small but mighty.”

This year, Weil and his sons have dedicated their effort to his mother (age 86) and a cousin (age 48), who were both recently treated for cancer, and thankfully, survived. “We are so grateful for the advances in cancer treatment that were available to them and for the excellent care they’ve received from the surgeons, oncologists, nurses, and other medical providers who helped them. They were lifelines during the storm.” He says, “As we ride to raise money for cancer research, it is not lost on me that the immunotherapeutic medication my mother received was still in the clinical trial stage just two short years ago.”

We wish Steven, Michael and Daniel a good ride. If you would like to support them, you can click here to make a gift:

Steven – https://profile.pmc.org/SW0055
Michael – http://profile.pmc.org/MW0346
Daniel – http://profile.pmc.org/DW0225