Every Mile Has a Name: Why I Ride the Pan-Mass Challenge

Four years ago, I clipped into my bike for my first Pan-Mass Challenge with a purpose much bigger than the miles ahead of me. Since then, every ride has carried more meaning, more names, and more reasons to keep going.  Cancer has touched my family and friends in ways I wish it never had. It has taken people we love, challenged others through diagnoses and treatment, and shown me how quickly life can change. When cancer becomes part of your story, statistics stop being statistics.

Research becomes hope. Treatment becomes time. Fundraising becomes deeply personal.  That is why I ride.

Four Years of Riding for Something Bigger

This year marked my fourth PMC with the Azara BKRS and the first time I completed both days of the ride. Nearly 180 miles on a bike is something I am incredibly proud of, but the mileage is not what stays with me most. The physical challenge of the PMC is real: months of training, early mornings, long miles, fatigue, and then waking up on Day 2 with your body reminding you of every mile you rode the day before.

But the PMC has never been only about riding a bike. Every mile represents someone fighting cancer, someone we have lost, someone celebrating another clear scan, and a family hoping for more time and better treatment options. Over the past four years, I have carried so many stories with me. My family and friends have experienced cancer far too many times, and I have watched people I love endure chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, ongoing treatments, uncertainty, and the emotional toll that comes with a diagnosis.

I ride for my mom, whose cancer journey continues to remind me why research, treatment, time, and hope matter so much. I ride in memory of my father-in-law, whom we lost to cancer. I ride for my aunt and cousins, whose experiences have been another reminder of how deeply a cancer diagnosis affects an entire family. I ride for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, whose lives have also been touched by this disease. They are just a few of the people behind my miles. They are the reason I continue to train, fundraise, show up, and ride.

No One Rides Alone  

One of the most powerful things about the PMC is that no one truly rides alone. Thousands of cyclists, volunteers, families, friends, survivors, and complete strangers come together for one purpose. Along the route, you see signs honoring loved ones who have been lost, survivors cheering from the sidelines, and people who simply show up to remind you to keep going.

And behind every Azara BKR is an even larger team. Our coworkers donate. Our families sacrifice weekends while we train. Friends share our fundraising pages. Clients and partners support us year after year. People send texts and messages during the ride reminding us why we’re out there. Every one of them is part of these miles.

Five Years of the Azara BKRS

My personal reasons for riding are deeply meaningful to me, but they are only one part of this story. The heart of it is the incredible group of people I have the privilege of riding alongside: the Azara BKRS team.

This year, I was joined by Chris Neal, LuAnn Kimker, Susan Boggiano, and Kara Gee as the 2026 Azara BKRS riders. Each of us came to the ride with our own personal reason for showing up, but together we carried the same shared commitment: honoring those affected by cancer and helping fund the research that gives patients and families more time, more answers, and more hope.

Our team was originally formed after we lost our friend and colleague Heather Budd to ovarian cancer in November 2021. Heather was only 45, and her life was cut short just months after her diagnosis. Her loss left a lasting mark on so many of us at Azara, and it became the spark that helped us turn grief into action.

That shared purpose is what continues to make the Azara BKRS story so meaningful.

In 2022, eight Azara riders participated in our first PMC and raised more than $35,000 for cancer research.

In 2023, we came back and raised more than $43,000.

In 2024, we surpassed our $50,000 goal, raising $53,339.

And in 2025, the Azara BKRS raised just over $55,000.

By the time we prepared to clip into our bikes for our fifth year in 2026, the Azara BKRS had already raised more than $186,000 for cancer research, and our commitment was still growing.

For 2026, we returned with another ambitious goal: raising $60,000. Those dollars represent something much bigger than a fundraising total. They represent coworkers, families, friends, clients, partners, and supporters standing with us in the fight against cancer and standing beside the people we love. What started as a way to honor one extraordinary colleague has become five years of riding for Heather, for every family touched by cancer, and for everyone still in the middle of their own fight. And now, with several Azara colleagues facing their own cancer journeys, the reason we ride feels even more immediate and close to home. Their courage and perseverance make this mission deeply personal and remind us that every mile, every dollar, and every act of support matters.

Four Year Down—and I'm Not Finished 

Four years ago, I don’t think I fully understood what the PMC would come to mean to me. Today, I do.

It gives me a way to take something that has caused the people I love tremendous pain and turn it into action. I can’t change the diagnoses my family and friends have received. I can’t bring back the people cancer has taken from us. But I can ride. I can raise money. I can tell their stories. I can support research. And I can keep showing up.

This year, when the miles got hard, especially on Day 2, I thought about all of them: the people we’ve lost, the people still fighting, the families waiting for answers, and the people who may someday benefit from the research being funded today. That made the two-day ride mean so much more. Because after four years and my first two-day PMC, one thing has never been clearer:

The finish line was never really the destination.

A future where more cancers are treatable, rare cancers have more research behind them, families have more options, and more people get more time with the people they love is the finish line we’re riding toward. Until we get there, I’ll keep pedaling.

One Finish Line Another Beginning  

The miles from this year’s Pan-Mass Challenge may be behind us, but we’re not done yet.

The Azara BKRS will continue raising money through October toward our $60,000 goal, and there is still time to help us cross one more finish line. Every donation supports cancer research and helps bring more hope, more answers, and more time to patients and families who need it most.

Help us finish strong and reach our $60,000 goal.

Donate to the Azara BKRS: https://profile.pmc.org/TA0144

This year’s ride is complete, but our commitment continues. For Heather, for our Azara colleagues facing their own cancer journeys, and for every person and family still hoping for more time. And now that 2026 is over, training for 2027 has already begun, because the reason we ride does not end at the finish line.