Cancer fighters rise to the Challenge -- Bob and Cindy Goodof
Bob and Cindy are part of the "friends for life" circle and they are riding for Ian Emery who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last spring.
This article was published in the Needham Times July 31st, 2003.
Cancer fighters rise to the Challenge
By Lawrence Fahey / Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
If you're looking for a symbol of cancer survival, you could do worse than the bicycle.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong, after all, just wrapped up his record-tying fifth consecutive victory in the 2,007-mile Tour De France, and this after rebounding from the testicular, lung and brain cancers for which he was treated in 1996. For the thousands of riders in the annual Pan-Mass Challenge, as well, the bicycle is the ultimate representation of those things cancer patients most need: courage, commitment and hope.
Goodof participates for several reasons. Like most riders, she has a personal connection to cancer. It was in memory of her beloved grandfather, who was claimed by the disease when she was only 7, that she initially undertook the Challenge.
No less important or inspiring to Goodof is the plight of her own mother, a three-year cancer survivor.
But to some degree she also owes her marriage to her cancer work: It was at a June 1995 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute charity event that she met her husband, Bob, himself a dedicated Pan-Mass rider and cancer research fund-raiser. Cindy and Bob, who had each ridden separately for several years before meeting, have trained and ridden together every year since 1996.
As a team, they seem ideally suited to one another. Bob, an equity analyst in downtown Boston, has built a database of more than 300 donors - many of whom have given repeatedly over the 18 years Bob has been riding - and he manages the bulk of the fund raising. While he downplayed the accomplishment of collecting donations in the financial industry, saying,
"
For her part, Cindy, a former marketer now pursuing her training in piano and musicology at the New England Conservatory, has the more arduous and challenging task: In addition to managing her own list of donors, she also keeps track of the donations, which these days can be made by any number of methods, and which can come in as late as October.
The Goodofs estimated their current total for the 2003 ride at about $37,000, and expect it could swell to as much as $50,000 before the books are closed. Over the years, the pair has raised an estimated $500,000 collectively.
Although Bob had never been touched by cancer when he began riding, and said he only signed up because it sounded "interesting," the charity work took on a more personal dimension in 1990, when a good friend was diagnosed with melanoma. The Goodofs, like many people, have found that the older they get, the more people they know with cancer.
And this year they'll have additional motivation, having taken on a "Pedal Partner," 2 1/2-year-old Ian Emery of Dedham, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma about a year ago. While riders often have Pedal Partners - cancer patients to whom the ride is dedicated - as a way of aiding fund raising and "humanizing the face of cancer," according to Cindy, they are usually randomly assigned. Ian, the son of a family friend, was the Goodofs' requested Pedal Partner.
Begun in 1980, the ride has grown steadily in numbers and stature. The first year, 36 cyclists entered, raising $10,000; this year, more than 3,600 from 37 states will ride, raising an estimated $16 million, and passing the $100 million mark overall. According to the Pan-Mass Web site, this year's money will represent 46 percent of all Jimmy Fund revenue.
But reduced to mere numbers, the efforts of the participants don't tell the real tale, said the Goodofs. The bike trip, which in itself is an impressive athletic feat, also represents untold hours of training. Cindy said they begin their work in May, slowly building up the mileage to 40 per week, then 80, finally reaching a peak of 150 to 200 miles each week.
While Bob and Cindy both stressed the importance of their teamwork, they said it's simply in keeping with the overall spirit of the Pan-Mass Challenge.
Lawrence Fahey can be reached at lfahey@cnc.com
This article was published in the Needham Times July 31st, 2003.
Cancer fighters rise to the Challenge
By Lawrence Fahey / Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
If you're looking for a symbol of cancer survival, you could do worse than the bicycle.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong, after all, just wrapped up his record-tying fifth consecutive victory in the 2,007-mile Tour De France, and this after rebounding from the testicular, lung and brain cancers for which he was treated in 1996. For the thousands of riders in the annual Pan-Mass Challenge, as well, the bicycle is the ultimate representation of those things cancer patients most need: courage, commitment and hope.
"One of the things that has always struck me about this ride," said Needham resident Cindy Goodof, who will undertake the 190-mile trek across eastern Massachusetts for the 10th time on Saturday, "is that like cancer, it is a ride of endurance. It's about having a good attitude and perseverance."
Goodof participates for several reasons. Like most riders, she has a personal connection to cancer. It was in memory of her beloved grandfather, who was claimed by the disease when she was only 7, that she initially undertook the Challenge.
"My grandfather was a truly phenomenal man," remembered Goodof. "It clearly affected my entire family when he died. That has always stayed with me."
No less important or inspiring to Goodof is the plight of her own mother, a three-year cancer survivor.
But to some degree she also owes her marriage to her cancer work: It was at a June 1995 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute charity event that she met her husband, Bob, himself a dedicated Pan-Mass rider and cancer research fund-raiser. Cindy and Bob, who had each ridden separately for several years before meeting, have trained and ridden together every year since 1996.
As a team, they seem ideally suited to one another. Bob, an equity analyst in downtown Boston, has built a database of more than 300 donors - many of whom have given repeatedly over the 18 years Bob has been riding - and he manages the bulk of the fund raising. While he downplayed the accomplishment of collecting donations in the financial industry, saying,
"
It's easy to get brokers to write checks," Cindy said there's more to it than that. "He also works really hard," she explained. "He starts in late winter, and he makes the phone calls, and he's very good about keeping in touch with people long term."
For her part, Cindy, a former marketer now pursuing her training in piano and musicology at the New England Conservatory, has the more arduous and challenging task: In addition to managing her own list of donors, she also keeps track of the donations, which these days can be made by any number of methods, and which can come in as late as October.
The Goodofs estimated their current total for the 2003 ride at about $37,000, and expect it could swell to as much as $50,000 before the books are closed. Over the years, the pair has raised an estimated $500,000 collectively.
Although Bob had never been touched by cancer when he began riding, and said he only signed up because it sounded "interesting," the charity work took on a more personal dimension in 1990, when a good friend was diagnosed with melanoma. The Goodofs, like many people, have found that the older they get, the more people they know with cancer.
"When you see it closer to home in someone so young, you get committed," Bob said.
And this year they'll have additional motivation, having taken on a "Pedal Partner," 2 1/2-year-old Ian Emery of Dedham, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma about a year ago. While riders often have Pedal Partners - cancer patients to whom the ride is dedicated - as a way of aiding fund raising and "humanizing the face of cancer," according to Cindy, they are usually randomly assigned. Ian, the son of a family friend, was the Goodofs' requested Pedal Partner.
"Here's this little boy who should be out playing with trucks in a sandbox, and instead he's getting chemotherapy," said Cindy.
Begun in 1980, the ride has grown steadily in numbers and stature. The first year, 36 cyclists entered, raising $10,000; this year, more than 3,600 from 37 states will ride, raising an estimated $16 million, and passing the $100 million mark overall. According to the Pan-Mass Web site, this year's money will represent 46 percent of all Jimmy Fund revenue.
But reduced to mere numbers, the efforts of the participants don't tell the real tale, said the Goodofs. The bike trip, which in itself is an impressive athletic feat, also represents untold hours of training. Cindy said they begin their work in May, slowly building up the mileage to 40 per week, then 80, finally reaching a peak of 150 to 200 miles each week.
"If I can do two 50s back to back on a Saturday and Sunday and not feel it, then I'm OK," said Cindy, who likes her minimum total mileage to be between 800 and 1,000 before the Challenge. "It is amazing what your body will do."
While Bob and Cindy both stressed the importance of their teamwork, they said it's simply in keeping with the overall spirit of the Pan-Mass Challenge.
"One of the great things about this ride is it's such a coming together of spirit, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," said Cindy. "When you get together with 3,600 other riders, you really get the feeling that we are going to find a cure, we are going to beat this thing."
Lawrence Fahey can be reached at lfahey@cnc.com
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