Locals to ride in Pan Mass

By Jennifer Grybowski
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE - Although there is more than three decades between them, Beverly Spreeman and Kathleen Podles make great partners. The pair will pedal the 31st annual Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) Saturday, Aug. 7.
Although this is both Sturbridge resident’s first time riding in the PMC, they are not new to the organization. Podles has volunteered for four years, parking cars and bikes, and holding up signs. This year, she’ll continue volunteering by registering riders as they arrive Friday night. Spreeman, a retired Holland Elementary School reading specialist, has volunteered for the last 10 years, registering riders Friday night and even as early as 4 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“That’s the fun part, because you get to meet all the riders,” Spreeman said.
Finally, after sitting on the sidelines, Spreeman and Podles decided to join in.
“It was on my bucket list,” Spreeman said. “I would always run out to the road when they took off and ring the bell and cheer them on. Every year, I would think ‘I want to do that.’”
Podles said her inspiration came from the annual Friday night dinner for the riders and volunteers.
“I got really excited talking to the riders at dinner,” Podles said.
So the twosome signed up online and began training. The PMC website offers riders a vast amount of resources, including a nutrition plan and riding schedules. Spreeman and Podles said they followed the training regiment fairly closely, beginning in April. They would ride 10 to 20 miles two to three times a week, and then do a longer ride each Saturday.
More than 5,000 cyclists are expected to ride this year, and cyclists choose from seven routes of varying mileage designed to cater to all levels of cycling strength and time availability. Spreeman and Podles will participate in the one-day, 110-mile ride from Sturbridge to Bourne.
Although the route is somewhat daunting, both said they are looking forward to the ride this year.
“First year riders get a special bracelet and [when they register] they ring a bell and everyone cheers,” Spreeman said. “People will be cheering us on and we’ll get a lot of support on the route.”
Each PMC rider must raise $3,000 to participate. While the pair said their friends and family have been supportive in raising the funds, neither of them have reached their goal so far.
“I tried to ask local companies to sponsor us,” Podles said.
“But it’s hard for a small business, because if they sponsor one, they feel like they have to sponsor everybody,” Spreeman said.
Donations may be made until Oct. 1. For more information on donating see the PMC’s website at: www.pmc.org.
The pair has joined up with a group that calls themselves “Team Caring for Carcinoid.” The team is made up of friends of Podles’ friends and they will wear bright blue shirts with sunflowers on them. The money they raise will be specifically donated to the research of a rare cancer, called carcinoid, that has affected a family member of one of the teammates. Carcinoid is a slow-growing type of neuroendocrine tumor.
“I felt it would be good to have a group to ride with, a support system,” Spreeman said.
This year, riding for a cure seems especially poignant to Spreeman, who has had two family members diagnosed with cancer this year.
“I have some close reasons now for riding,” she said.
The PMC has raised more than $270 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund. The PMC generates half of the Jimmy Fund's annual revenue and it is Dana-Farber’s single largest contributor. This year’s goal is to raise $31 million. In 2009, for the third consecutive year, 100 percent of all funds raised by PMC riders went directly to the Jimmy Fund.
Cyclists will travel from 36 states and eight countries to ride in PMC 2010. More than 300 riders will be cancer survivors or current patients. Cyclists range in age from 13 to 83.