During the early 1990s, Florence resident Kim Florek ran a marathon in honor of Sally Ekus, who was fighting leukemia as a young child.
Ekus, 32, has since recovered and now lives on the same street as Florek.
“I hadn’t seen (Ekus) in 20 years, since I ran a marathon for her,” Florek said. “After I decided to do (the Pan-Mass Challenge), I was walking down the street with my kids one day and saw her. Sally said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Kim.’”
Florek first decided to raise money for cancer research after her grandmother passed away from cancer. After running five marathons for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Florek is doing something different. This weekend she will participate in her first Pan-Mass Challenge, which raises money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
“Everyone knows someone who has cancer, or someone who has died from it,” Florek, said.
The Pan-Mass Challenge is the largest source of funding for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 2016, over 6,200 cyclists raised over $47 million. In the event’s 37 years, nearly 95,000 riders have combined to raise $547 million.
The Challenge offers several different courses ranging from 25 miles (Wellesley to Patriots Place in Foxborough) to 190 miles (Sturbridge to Provincetown). The rides take place over one day or two.
Florek and Dawn Kessell, her friend and training partner, were inspired to join the Pan-Mass Challenge after their friend, Susan Burkott-Lucier, passed away from cancer. Florek began training during the winter by riding an indoor bicycle. When the weather improved, the pair went outside. The two have acted as motivators for each other, even when Florek was in Maine during July.
Florek will be riding the two-day 168-mile course from Wellesley to Provincetown.
Each route on the Pan-Mass Challenge comes with a minimum amount of money that each rider must raise. For Florek, that amount was $7,800 and she raised it through social media, and by writing letters to family and friends.
“It’s a lot of money to raise but I think a lot of people out there are willing to donate,” Florek said.
Florence resident Emma Martin first heard about the Pan-Mass Challenge when a friend was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer.
“I started going with her to her appointments and acting as her caretaker when she’s been at Dana-Farber,” Martin said.
Wanting to find a way to give back to the hospital, Martin was directed to the Pan-Mass Challenge.
“This will be my first serious bike race,” said Martin, who bought her first bike at Northampton Bicycle in November and now works their part time. “They’re great people. Without them I wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
Martin will ride with her aunt and training partner, Jo Martin, of Westhampton. Martin was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and received treatment at Dana-Farber.
“From the moment I stepped into the hospital there was this big beautiful lobby, which became a symbol of my treatment,” Jo Martin said. “All the doctors were so kind.”
The Martins both said that the help they received from Northampton Bicycle was crucial to their training.
“In November, neither one of us even owned a bike,” Jo Martin said. “The crew at (Northampton Bicycle) taught us everything. From what gear we needed to buy to nutrition and rest days, and how to ride the distances that we ride.”
Emma Martin, a recent Smith College graduate, has raised money through social media and through her website.
“(Fundraising) has been challenging but also very humbling,” she said.
The Martins have been riding 20 miles a day, three or four times a week, with a longer ride on the weekend. They will be riding the longest Pan-Mass Challenge course.
Restaurateur Claudio Guerra of Florence will be taking on the Pan-Mass Challenge’s longest course for a second time.
Guerra had been a serious cyclist before he got into the restaurant business in Northampton. Guerra said he biked across the country once with a tent and a sleeping bag.
“By the time I opened up Spoleto’s, I didn’t even own a bike, but a friend got me back into it,” Guerra said. “All the years I haven’t been biking I’ve been kicking myself because we have so many beautiful areas around here to bike in.”
Guerra first heard about the Challenge through friends he now rides with. Guerra said he rides at least a few days every week and fits in a 60-mile ride about every two weeks.
“The spring weather was so bad this year with all the rain. The way I look at it is a 50-mile ride here is as difficult as 100 miles out there (in eastern Massachusetts) because of the hills, and when you’re biking with 7,000 cyclists you get the adrenaline going.”
Guerra’s restaurants have assisted him in fundraising. Guerra had a dinner at Spoleto’s on July 20 where all proceeds went toward his Pan-Mass fundraising.
“The thing is, everyone has been touched by cancer,” Guerra said. “So this is such a wonderful thing.”