Ken Brack

Closer by the Mile: the Story of the Country's Most Successful Athletic Fundraiser, the Pan-massachusetts Challenge Ken Brack

In 1980 Billy Starr turned his passion for extreme bike rides into a pioneering event supporting cancer research. Starting from his dad?s dining room table, Starr built the Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon into the country?s most successful athletic fundraiser and legacy-setter in sports philanthropy.?? In its first 33 years, the PMC raised $375 million for Boston?s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with many of more than 9,000 participants reinvigorating their stake in the forging of new cures. Whether riding as many as 192 miles or helping out at water stops and hubs, PMC participants join a clamorous lovefest of reciprocal giving. Cheered on in small towns and alongside roads winding through Cape Cod, their contributions to the cause often reach extraordinary levels--which are valued more than ever in an era of research funding cutbacks.?? In 2011-12, a young girl from upstate New York with a rare type of leukemia inspired a riding team to new heights. Adding 184 miles to start from Hannah Hughes?s driveway, Team Huckleberry finished four days later climbing the Provincetown dunes. The story of the PMC, a debut work of narrative nonfiction by Ken Brack, brings you along for the ride.