By CHRISTOPHER TREMBLAY, Staff Sports Writer

The Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) is a Massachusetts-based bike-a-thon that raises more money than any other single athletic fundraiser in the country. Held the first weekend of August every year, 100% of the funds go to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the world leader in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. 

Billy Starr created the organization in 1980 after losing his mother at the age of 49 to melanoma. Thirty-six riders and 10 volunteers took part that first year and although many riders got lost during that inaugural ride, they accomplished what they set out to do – raise funds ($10,200) for cancer research. Today the PMC has 6,800 riders, 3,000 volunteers and has raised $831 million for Dana Farber’s Jimmy Fund.

In 2014 Dudley’s John Glowacki finally became one of those PMC riders after years of thinking about jumping on his bike and making the trek to Provincetown. He and his wife had always seen the ads on TV while on vacation and Glowacki told her he was one day going to do the ride. It became a joke between the two until it came to fruition.

“I always filled out the application, I just never hit the submit button,” he said. “Things seemed to come up and I was worried about the fundraising minimum. Once you hit that submit button, things become real and if you don’t reach that monetary goal, it comes out of your pocket, you signed up to raise that money and it is your responsibility.”

  Although it was a daunting task to raise the required amount of money, Glowacki noted that he has been lucky and never in the situation to take money out of his pocket. 

“I’ve had a lot of sponsors and supporters through the years,” the Dudley resident said. ‘Even during the pandemic year, it didn’t happen; cancer affects so many, people were still willing to give. The work and research Dana Farber does, people don’t hesitate to donate.”

In 1991 Glowacki lost his father at the age of 50 to cancer. Then again in 2013 his nephew Rob, who was in his early 20’s, was diagnosed, this gave him the opportunity to do something to help the cause. Since 2014 Glowacki has ridden the two-day event from Sturbridge to Provincetown, pedaling his bike 186 miles.

Glowacki is part of Team Cyclosaurass, a team that was formed before he first decided to take part in the PMC. His sister-in-law (Rob’s mother) worked at a company with the riders of Cyclosaurass and when they heard he was going to ride they invited him to join them.

Although the Dudley resident was well prepared for the ride, he was not ready for what Mother Nature was going to end up dishing out that August weekend. 

“It was one of the worst days they’ve had, it was cold and raining,” Glowacki said. “Although the weather was not cooperating the ride was good for me. I got to see so many people along the routes with signs and cheering the riders on, they didn’t think twice about the rain. There was not a mile that you didn’t see people even in this type of weather.”

Luckily for Glowacki, he had packed a raincoat for his ride, just in case. And although he still got soaked from the rain, he was able to contain body heat with it.

“Nothing was dry, but the worst part of the ride was not being able to see in front of you at times because of the rain in your eyes. As you rode you just hoped that no one in front of you stopped short or had in accident in front of you,” he said. “Even when we got to Bourne (the end of the first day’s ride) the field to get to the food tent was flooded with four inches of water. I think it took until Wednesday before my shoes finally dried, but even through all that I’d do it again.”

2014 was supposed to be Glowacki’s one and done with the ride, but like so many he just couldn’t say goodbye to the event after taking part in it.

“I just wanted to say that I did it once. I never imagined that I’d still be doing it eight years later,” Glowacki said. “The whole experience during the entire weekend was unbelievable and it just sucks you in. The PMC changes your life forever once you get involved and see the impact that it has on the people, you can’t not go back.”

As an avid bike rider Glowacki knows that he’ll be on his bike anyways, so why not just ride for the PMC and do something meaningful. While he had said it was only going to be a one-year thing, then bumped it up to five years, Glowacki’s new milestone is ten years, but once that goal is reached, he seems to start contemplating the next goal.

“Every time I start to think about it coming to an end I start to reconsider,” Glowacki said. “During the pandemic I really thought that it would lose its luster but that didn’t happen instead more and more people were signing up and they were opening more routes to ride.”

Glowacki,  who rides year-round (on a stationary bike inside during the winter and on the roads once the weather allows him too) knows that his 10th year will be coming up soon and he will once again have to make a decision as to continue riding for the PMC or hang it up. However, it seems that as long as he is in good health and can climb aboard his bike the PMC will have a partner for some time.