#WhyIPMC guest blog by Ann Marie Forehand, 1st year PMC Unpaved rider & 17-year PMC rider, Team Brentwheels
My husband Ray and I started riding the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2006 in honor of a
little boy, Brent, in our hometown who was battling neuroblastoma. My good friend Roger had befriended this little boys family (Dana and Mike McCreesh) and offered to be their team’s (TeamBrentwheels) roadie and logistic manager. We decided it was time to hop on a bike (my first time) and ride for an amazing cause!
So of course after our first PMC, we were hooked! Roger’s wife Kim and our good friend Aili are all TeamBrentwheel riders. We train hard together starting in early spring and started a community tag sale to help with our fundraising. Our children Savannah, Mac, Ellie and Jake have been volunteers for 15 years ago and continue to volunteer either through the PMC, or through our Team with Roger. Last year, my son Mac, who is a professional skier and on the US Ski Team, decided to do the one day ride with Savannah’s boyfriend Corbin. It was truly a dream for me to ride with my child (even if just for a few minutes) knowing that I have instilled the love of the PMC in my kids! Corbin works at Landry’s and also volunteers his bike wrenching services before the ride! This year he and Mac rode with us again on Saturday and on Sunday Corbin proposed to Savannah on the sandy shores of Cape Cod at our PMC after party!!!!
Wanting to keep the PMC buzz going, Savannah decided she would add ‘Rider’ to her PMC resume and tackle Unpaved on September 28th. Corbin, Roger, Kim and I have decided to ride as well! It is a new challenge for me, Kim and Savannah but like the ‘Big’ PMC we know it is 100% worth the hard work.
The PMC is truly the most amazing event I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in and I look forward to the first weekend in August all year long. I am so thankful that my family and friends love this event as much as I do and that I have so many supporters to help me make a difference in the fight against cancer.
