Ayer, Mass. teen beats cancer, gets ready to ride

July 16, 2010 By tmcenroe Leave a Comment

Over the course of the coming weeks leading up to the PMC, NECN will be running a number of rider profiles. You’ll see them on TV as 60-second vignettes, but there will also be longer versions for NECN.com and for the PMC Kickoff Show in Sturbridge.

Alysha Palumbo put together the first profile, of 15-year-old Lindsey Kimball of Ayer, Massachusetts – who has beaten acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and now gets to ride with her pedal partner team of past PMCs on the one-day Wellesley-Wellesley loop this year. Score one more for “Living Proof!”

Keep an eye on the NECN.com Pan Mass Challenge page for more profiles and coverage of PMC weekend!

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles Tagged With: Lindsey Kimball, living proof, pedal partners

PMC 2009: Once riding in mother's honor, now in her memory

August 2, 2009 By Adam Hart Leave a Comment

For eight years, he rode to honor his mother, a cancer survivor.

This year, he’s riding in her memory.

Hidden in the sea of riders rounding the turn and heading into Nickerson State Park in Brewster is a man riding with a heavy heart.

On this second day of the Pan Mass Challenge, Rob Goodman pedals along, cheers from the crowd ringing in his ears, his mind wandering from the road ahead.

“I’m thinking about my mom, of course, I hit those hills, I mean I feel selfish for feeling tired because I just think about her, what she went through, and it gives you that extra bit of adrenaline,” Goodman said.

Joyce Goodman fought breast cancer 15 years ago and won.

Then in 2007, she was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer.

She kept coming to support her son Rob in the PMC, ever the family matriarch, continuing to battle cancer and enjoy precious moments with her children and grandchildren.

“Her doctors didn’t give her much time, but amazingly she made it two years. And I’m sorry to say she passed away in May, the day before mother’s day, but she fought amazingly well,” Goodman said.

A Babson College grad who lived for several years in Boston and has now returned to Westchester County, New York, Rob’s first 8 years in the PMC were to honor his mother while she lived.

He is now riding to remember her life.

“This is all about her. We’re going to keep it up and ride in her memory, and it’s tough. It’s tough not being able to ride in Bourne and see her and get that first hug from her and kiss,” her son said.

Also riding in Joyce Goodman’s memory, is her son-in-law Mark Feldman who is riding for the 4th year.

“We’re just going to keep on going. You know, this is just, we’re a small cog in the long long wheel here. It’s a great cause,” Feldman said.

Only adding a layer of emotion on a day filled with them is that today, August 2, was Joyce Goodman’s birthday.

She would have been 72.

“We always had a birthday cake for her the Saturday night, but you know, we had a birthday cake for her last night, in her memory. And we keep going on because we want to help other people and hopefully the money we raise keeps someone else’s mother, sister, brother, father, still around,” Goodman said.

Goodman has raised close to $175,000 in nine years.

Even after losing his mother to cancer, Rob Goodman pledges to continue to ride the PMC in the years to come.

Filed Under: Front Page, PMC Events, Rider Profiles Tagged With: PMC 2009

Patriot turned Platelet Pedaler

July 29, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

Joe Andruzzi is a big guy – with a big heart, and a cancer story to tell.

The former offensive lineman with the New England Patriots is a cancer survivor who is turning his own story into inspiration for a new team, the Patriots Platelet Pedalers. He talks about his planned PMC ride on ‘Good Morning Live.’

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles Tagged With: Joe Andruzzi, Patriot Platelet Pedalers

A fine blend of fun and fundraising

July 29, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

PMC riders have to come up with ways to make their fundraising pitches eyecatching. We send emails. We shoot videos. But only rider Andrew Steinhouse has found a way to blend fun and fundraising – along with juices, fruits and other healthy items.

Steinhouse is using his pedal power to create PMC smoothies, ensuring that I will be riding about 10 feet behind him for the entire ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown.

Get a taste of Andrew’s efforts by clicking on the video window.

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles Tagged With: Andrew Stainhouse, blender, fundraising

Meet Team NECN: Ted McEnroe

July 20, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

tedmpmcLast but not least in our Team NECN profiles – it’s my turn. I’m Ted McEnroe, Director of Digital Media for NECN. My profile story says it better than anything else – I’m riding for a man I never met.

This is my fifth year at NECN, and each year I have been inside our newsroom as the real work goes on between Sturbridge and Provincetown. There is no question that the Pan-Mass Challenge is a powerful event, and I couldn’t resist the pull.

So this year, instead of helping put together the coverage of the PMC, I will be a part of it for the first time. While cancer has been relatively kind to my family, my stepsister and mother-in-law are both cancer survivors.

But it’s my father-in-law I think of most. He died before I ever got to know him, and whenever my wife says, “My dad would have liked you,” I realize it is possible to miss something you never had.

So I’ll ride for those who can’t, wherever they are. I’ll ride for those who let us into their homes and lives each year to share their personal stories, for the remarkable people whose paths I will never get to cross because of cancer, and for a future in which we will have far fewer stories of cancer, loss and survival to tell.

See you on the road…

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: Team NECN, Ted McEnroe

Meet Team NECN: John Vanscoyoc

July 18, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

johnvTypical John Vanscoyoc. He’s nowhere to be found in the photo on his PMC profile. But while he may be a little camera-shy, John is one of Team NECN’s top fundraisers, making Heavy Hitter in 2008, his first year riding the PMC.

John produces “Broadside with Jim Braude,” and Jim will admit that without John’s steady hand in the booth making it all happen, well, it wouldn’t all happen. (Trust me, I sit next to them both. It wouldn’t happen. No way.)

Here’s John’s story:

I’m in my second year as a PMC participant on Team NECN. The 2008 ride was a life-changing experience. I discovered I was capable of miles I didn’t know I had in me. The physical challenge was great, but even greater was the support of my teammates and the many friends who helped me exceed my fundraising goal. �(You made me a “PMC heavy hitter” in my first year!)

Best of all was meeting Team NECN’s pedal partner, Caroline Lane, a 9-year-old recovering from bone cancer. More good news: Caroline will be back as Team NECN’s pedal partner in 2009. As a tribute to her courage, I’m upping my own personal challenge. I’ve signed up for the longest day 1 route: 110 miles from Sturbridge to Bourne (60 mile return to Wellesley on day 2). �GO TEAM NECN!

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: John Vanscoyoc, Team NECN

Meet Team NECN: Bob Keating

July 16, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

keatingrideBob Keating is NECN’s Assistant News Director, and his approach to the PMC has been just like his approach to the newsroom. When the team needs to get something done – we all come together, make a plan, and then by the time we realize we need to execute, we find Bob has already gotten it done.

He’s a great person, a former producer of NECN’s opening and closing ceremonies coverage, and will probably be somehow coordinating crews while inhaling lunch in Dighton on August 1.

Bob also helped coordinate the Kids Ride in Leominster, Mass., this year, where this picture was taken. (I bow in his general direction – I have no idea how he gets it all done.)

Here’s his story:

I am getting ready for my second Pan Mass Challenge. This August I will again be riding 192 miles on a bicycle from Sturbridge to Provincetown, all in an effort to help find a cure for cancer. As I did last year, I am riding as part of Team NECN. I am once again riding in the memory of my father, who lost his battle to pancreatic cancer nearly 16 years ago.

I want to thank everybody who helped us out with this year’s Leominster PMC Kids Ride. I think we captured the spirit and camaraderie of the PMC weekend, and brought it to downtown Leominster for a day. We had 80 kids turn out for the ride, and it looks like we’ll end up raising more than $10,000 My gallery is filled with photos of the event, and there’s more info at our website, kids.pmc.org/leominster/

Now, it’s time to get on the bike!

I hope you can help me reach my goal of $4,200 by clicking on my name at the top of this profile and making a secure donation.

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: Bob Keating, Team NECN

Meet Team NECN: Joe Joyce

July 13, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

joejoyceAs weekend meteorologist for NECN, it’s Joe Joyce‘s responsibility to make sure we have great weather for PMC weekend. This year, apparently, his strategy was to make June as lousy as possible. (Well, Joe, you got that part nailed.)

In fairness to Joe, if there is rain on PMC weekend, don’t stick nails in his tires. He historically cranks through a 1-day ride AND then shows up at 4am the next morning to work a double shift on-air! (This year, I think he realized he could actually work the first day and then ride on the second – which means the boat back from Provincetown will be a little more lively this year!)

Joe also videoblogged from the course last year – and we’ll try to figure out a way to make it happen again this year from the road. Should be fun!

Here’s Joe’s story:

After working at NECN for 10 years, and seeing the thousands of riders do such good work, I finally got up the courage to commit to the cause. I have never considered myself to be a marathon runner or a competitive cyclist…I did not even have a bike before I registered! Still there was always a feeling in myself that I should be doing more.

I could not sit & watch any longer…especially when you see the smiles not just on the riders, but the joy and hope you bring to families who are currently struggling with this awful disease. The stories of survival are inspiring and give us hope for the future. We bike for them but also we bike for those we have lost in their memory. We ride so that more can live. It’s an honor to be a part this event.

We All Ride On!
Joe Joyce

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: Joe Joyce, Team NECN

Meet Team NECN: Mike Kelly

July 10, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

no-photo He must be in this photo somewhere! Mike Kelly is one of the producers who makes NECN’s ‘Good Morning Live’ happen every morning. While it’s easy to take a good morning show for granted – you fans should note that Mike has to be in here by 1 a.m. to make things go off without a hitch each morning. So he deserves a medal AND a PMC donation. (Scratch that – his wife deserves the medal.)

This is Mike’s third year in the saddle. Here’s his story:

A 2004 graduate of Boston College, this will be my third time riding the PMC. I work at NECN so I was greatly interested in the ride before finally doing it… and it met all expectations.

While the fundraising is daunting, especially for a recent college grad like myself, I couldn’t pass up the chance to ride AT LEAST one more time.

I will be riding once again for my the grandparents on my mother’s side of my family from Hagerstown, Maryland. My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor and my grandfather died of cancer almost 10 years before I was born.

I look forward to meeting many people out there.
Let’s get riding!

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: Mike Kelly, Team NECN

Meet Team NECN: Dave Beauvais

July 7, 2009 By Ted McEnroe Leave a Comment

beauvaisOur series of Team NECN rider profiles continues with Dave Beauvais. Nicknamed “Lance” by Dave Lawson for his headlong sprint up the Alps during the 1998 Tour de France (well, not really), Dave is also the NECN Director of Operations, and it is with his steady hand and planning that we pull off the technical aspects of all of our coverage of the PMC.

Dave has a great story to tell, as well. But it’s a longer one – so you’ll have to click on “read more” to see it.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Front Page, Rider Profiles, Team NECN Tagged With: Dave Beauvais, Team NECN
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