My First Pan-Mass Challenge: Cycling for Global Cancer Care

Editor's note: This is a first-person reflection written by Kathrine Kuhlmann, PIH Senior Writer/Editor.

In late May, I sat in a Partners In Health (PIH) staff meeting learning about the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), an annual bike ride that raises money for cancer research and care. PIH colleagues were encouraging more of us to join the team.

I was interested. The jerseys were very cute, designed to match socks created by Hank Green, a PIH supporter, YouTuber, and cancer survivor. But as someone whose cycling experience consisted mostly of running errands on my little single-speed bike (a bike with only one gear for those unfamiliar with the lingo), I wasn’t exactly picturing myself signing up for a multiple-mile ride.

Then, just a few hours later, I received a message from my mom that sent my perspective careening into a new shape: My uncle had just been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer during a routine health check-up. My stomach dropped to my feet.  

It was the first known case of cancer on her side of the family. My uncle is young, strong, healthy, and stubborn. I thought cancer wouldn’t happen to someone like him. Before panic could fully set in, my mom explained that his doctors were feeling positive about treatment and already had him scheduled for a follow-up visit the following week.  

That morning, I had been sitting in a meeting learning about a bike ride supporting cancer care around the world. By the end of the day, someone I loved needed cancer care himself.

The Ride—and My Why

The PMC is a Massachusetts-based bike-a-thon that raises funds for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  

For the past decade, PIH’s team, Ekip Onkoloji (or “Cancer Team” in Haitian Creole), has raised funds specifically for Dana-Farber’s Center for Global Cancer Medicine (CGCM), which works alongside PIH to strengthen cancer care in resource-limited settings around the world. The CGCM has helped advance the care at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence in Rwanda, the oncology work being done by Zanmi Lasante, PIH’s sister organization in Haiti, and oncology programs at other PIH care delivery sites.  

During that staff meeting, PIH Oncology Program Senior Associate Erin Durkin explained the relationship between PIH’s cancer work and the work being done at the CGCM. All of the money raised by Ekip Onkoloji riders for the PMC and the CGCM goes directly to PIH patient care.  

Now, I found myself thinking about that work differently.

My uncle lives in Denmark, where health care is free and comprehensive oncology care is accessible. Amid the fear of his diagnosis, I felt incredibly lucky knowing he would receive the care he needed, giving him the best chances at defeating his cancer. I also thought about how many people in vulnerable communities worldwide receive the same frightening news without that assurance.

The PMC gave me a way to channel all those thoughts and feelings into action. Over a cup of tea later that week, my colleague Carole Mitnick, a longtime PIHer who had helped introduce the ride at our staff meeting, walked me through the logistics. I officially joined Ekip Onkoloji that evening, committing to riding 50 miles on August 2nd, which allowed for about two months of training.

There was just still one problem, though: I wasn’t really a cyclist. I didn’t have any of the fancy outfitting or experience with long rides that most folks who are mad enough to sign up have.

Ready to Ride

First step: I needed to find a bike. Second step: start cycling.  

When I tell you it took a village to get me to the starting line of PMC, I am not embellishing.  A neighbor loaned me a road bike—with actual gears!—and Carole’s husband, Chris Johnson, generously offered to fix it up. Meanwhile, Carole and my fellow Ekip Onkoloji teammate and PIH Senior Development Officer, Emmanuel Kamanzi, took me on my first training ride, teaching me how to navigate my way out of the busy roads of Boston and around quieter neighborhoods.  

The week before the PMC, I completed my longest ride of 30 miles through Boston.  

I was as ready as I was going to be.

PMC Weekend

If you’ve never ridden the PMC or heard of the event, it’s hard to explain how thoughtful and energizing it is. My teammate, Ty Beerley, PIH award manager, and I arrived at registration that weekend to pick up our credentials and meet with other members of Ekip Onkoloji. We were both first-year riders, completely new to the event, going on this journey together.  

When we stepped up to check in, the person at the table, a cancer survivor himself, shouted that it was our first PMC, causing everyone around us to cheer and ring cowbells. Even as my cheeks turned bright red, I was so delighted to be part of this tradition. It felt very official, and very stinkin’ cool.

The night before our ride, Ty and I headed to the North End, Boston's little Italy, for a big pasta dinner to carb-load for our ride the following day.  

With full bellies the next morning, we arrived at the starting line around 6:30 AM and met up with two of our teammates —Alyson Bierling, CGCM nurse director, and her dad—who were on the same route. It was so special to stand in a sea of bikes and helmets, one piece of this massive movement.

Ty and I biked the whole 50-mile route together: hooting and hollering down the hills, eating bananas, nectarines, and oranges at the stops, cheering fellow cyclists on, and thanking folks who came out to the street to cheer us on. At the last water stop, friends and PIH colleagues came to surprise us, encourage us, and give us the best energy for our last 15 miles.  

I think I was grinning for the full five hours we were either on our bikes or at the water stops. As soon as Babson College, our finish line, came into view, I was filled with joy from the morning we’d had. Despite the rolling hills we had just conquered (I did start complaining about those. Sorry, Ty.), I was even a bit bummed it was already coming to an end. It wasn’t even noon yet!

Ty and I crossed the finish line with our hands in the air and huge smiles on our faces. We were immediately greeted by our friends, teammates who had already finished, and a cup of frozen Del’s lemonade.

Part of a Movement

Monday morning, I felt ready to do it all again. My legs miraculously weren’t sore, and I was already missing the community and unyielding joy of the day before.  

I also found myself thinking again about my uncle and how grateful I was that, amid all the frightening uncertainty of his diagnosis, getting the care he needed was never in question. I felt more determined than ever to help make that true for people everywhere.

The PMC helped me feel like I was actually doing something helpful in a situation that felt completely out of my control. I’m already excited to ride again and continue supporting PIH and the CGCM’s work to make high-quality cancer care accessible to more people around the world.

Maybe, though, I should start saving for my own bike to use next year...