Newton cyclists raise $2M (and counting) in 46th Pan Mass Challenge

Newton’s 209 Pan-Mass Challenge cyclists and volunteers together have raised $2,020,509 thus far for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as part of the 46th running of the two-day charity ride on August 2-3. The PMC has collected $55.6 million to date this year across all participants.

Two Newton cyclists with remarkably similar names — Steven Siegel and Steven Segal — exemplify how the 46-year-old PMC has evolved from a small athletic event into one of the nation’s largest fundraising efforts. Fig City News reached each of the two cyclists onsite at the end of Day 1 and Day 2 and Newton’s longest riding cyclist, Dave Grossman, after the ride.

Two veteran riders, different paths

Steven Siegel, 65, a structural engineer and former Newton School Committee member, completed his 41st consecutive PMC ride this year with his brother Jon Siegel, of Framingham, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in January.

In January, doctors determined that Jon has a treatable but not curable brain tumor. Despite surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments that left Jon chronically fatigued, his medical team encouraged participation in the PMC. The brothers rode a tandem bicycle for portions of the route.

The Siegel brothers first participated in 1984, when the event had 285 riders. “Everybody just parked in the parking lot” at Old Sturbridge Village, Steve recalled. “Billy [Starr] stood up on a split-rail fence and just shouted. We all had T-shirts and we rode. No police coverage.”

Participants slept in Army National Guard tents and ate from “a giant barbecue pit.” Siegel and his brother wore “cut-off blue jeans and Converse All-Stars,” unaware of the conventions of cycling gear.

Though Steve Siegel had previously raised roughly the minimum required amount throughout his four decades of participation, he has increased his fundraising in recent years. His brother’s diagnosis adds personal urgency to this year’s effort. Jon’s daughter, Rachel, also rode, completing her first PMC this year.

Steven Segal, 65, a retired private-equity executive, has raised more than $2.2 million over 36 years of PMC riding and is Newton’s 3rd leading lifetime fundraiser. He began participating without any personal connection to cancer but developed one quickly.

“The very next year, I remember who [the first connection] was. It was my grandmother,” Segal said. As diagnoses accumulated among friends and colleagues, his fundraising intensified. “By the fifth year, when every year, I knew at least one or two more people who had been diagnosed or died, I said, ‘Okay, well, screw it. I don’t care. I’m gonna send a letter to everybody I know.'”

During his private-equity career, Segal sent 300-400 physical letters annually, with return envelopes, raising up to $130,000 per year from his professional connections. He now raises $40,000-$50,000 annually in retirement.

“You get so much encouragement on the road,” Segal said. “People lining the route, holding signs saying, ‘I’m Dave. I’m 14. I am alive because of you.’ You always see something like that that moves you every year.”

Top fundraiser unable to ride

Duncan Richardson, Newton’s leading 2025 fundraiser at $91,913, could not start this year’s ride due to a cancer recurrence. Richardson, diagnosed in July 2022, began new treatments around the third anniversary of his original diagnosis.

“Whether I’m able to ride this year will be a game-time decision, but I’m continuing to raise funds,” Richardson wrote on his fundraising page. He committed to matching all donations and offered additional matches to donors’ chosen charities for contributions exceeding $1,000.

Newton’s longest-serving PMC cyclist

Dave Grossman leads Newton in PMC longevity, with 44 years of participation, and has raised $565,000 over his cycling career. Today, the Pan Mass Challenge has several routes to cater to cyclists with varied fitness levels, but the original PMC began in 1980 with just a single route from Springfield to Provincetown and then changed to a Sturbridge start in 1981. Grossman, who rode his first PMC in 1982, decided with several others in 1997 that they should start their annual rides at the Mass border to make it a true “Pan Mass” challenge.

Grossman, Steve Siegel, and Jon Siegel and a group of 16-20 riders created the “Huckleberry Ride”, named after a cafe on that Day 0 route.. Their annual “Day 0” Friday ride adds an extra 100 miles to the weekend’s 192-mile Sturbridge – Provincetown route.In 2011, the team had a patient partner (Hannah) who lived in New York State, who was very ill, so they decided to add an 82-mile leg on Thursday to ride from her home, doubling the distance of the Sturbridge-Provincetown route.

Grossman began riding in memory of his mother, but over the years has increasingly seen cancer enter his life and that of his friends and family. Now he rides for almost three dozen people who lost battles with cancer, but also celebrates many who survive as”Living Proof” of Dana Farber’s success. Since his 40th year riding, Grossman has set a goal to raise more — an additional $1,000 for each year he has ridden — and has well exceeded that goal thus far this year, with $63,270 raised.. His focus in this year’s ride was on supporting Jon Siegel, whom he considers a brother, in riding the PMC despite his medical challenges. “

“Time is a gift. There are no guarantees of a tomorrow, but we will keep riding and raising money to help give more tomorrows to others,” says Grossman.

Newton’s oldest and most prolific fundraiser

Michael Frieze is both Newton’s most prolific cumulative fundraiser at $6.75 million and, at age 87, likely its oldest. Despite his advanced age, Frieze completed the 50-mile round trip from Wellesley to Foxboro and back on Sunday at a brisk 13 mph pace, in his 43rd year of riding.

Newton’s leading 2025 fundraisers so far

This year’s top Newton fundraisers so far include the residents listed below. Fundraising continues until October 1, with Newton riders seeking to raise an additional $300,000 between now and then.

1. Duncan Richardson: $91,913 (12 years, $758,000 lifetime)
2. Michael Frieze: $82,780 (43 years, $6.75 million lifetime)
3. Lee Nadler: $73,850 (26 years, $3.1 million lifetime)
4. Dave Grossman: $63,270 (44 years, $565,000 lifetime)
5. Michael McKay: $51,093 (21 years, $406,000 lifetime)
6. Adam Suttin: $49,635 (19 years, $1.3 million lifetime)
7. Steven Branfman: $46,425 (22 years, $991,000 lifetime)
8. Joshua Levy: $40,641 (16 years, $265,000 lifetime)
9. Charles Grant: $40,000 (11 years, $149,000 lifetime)
10. Andy Sucoff: $38,221 (15 years, $281,000 lifetime)

Newton’s leading Lifetime Fundraisers who road this year are:

1. Michael Frieze: $6.75 million (43 years)
2. Lee Nadler: $3.1 million (26 years)
3. Steven Segal: $2.2 million (36 years)
4. Adam Suttin: $1.3 million (19 years)
5. Steven Branfman: $991,308 (22 years)
6. Duncan Richardson: $758,000 (12 years)
7. Dave Grossman: $565,000 (44 years)
8. Michael McKay: $406,000 (21 years)
9. Andy Sucoff: $281,000 (15 years)
10. Joshua Levy: $265,000 (16 years)

Event scale and impact

The Pan-Mass Challenge mobilizes approximately one volunteer for every two riders. As founder Billy Starr noted on the Today Show on Thursday morning, “The Pan Mass Challenge has special sauce, there is the reciprocity of love that goes on between the rider and volunteer, each one thinking the other one is the greatest thing since sliced bread.” Founded in 1980, the event has raised more than $1 billion for Dana-Farber, with 100% of rider-raised funds going directly to the institute.

Dana-Farber researchers have contributed to the development of more than half of all cancer drugs approved by the FDA between 2018 and 2022. This year’s PMC fundraising continues through October 1. The PMC aims to raise $76 million in 2025, building on last year’s record $75 million.

To help Newton riders and volunteers reach their collective $2.3M in goals through October 1, follow these links: Ilana Amrani-Cohen, Eman Ansari, Edward Arnstein, David Aronoff, Frank Aronson, Jane Avers, Karen Axelrod, Jess Baccari, Laurence Bailen, Joel Bard, John Barter, Benjamin Bates, Rachel Beaver, Owen Beaver, Tyler Belisle, Gary Belowich, Barry Benjamin, Paul Benson, David Berg, Michael Berger, Rachelle Bernacki, Piotr Bielecki, David Blume, Amelia Bowman, Joshua Bowman, Ellen Branfman, Steven Branfman, Archer Brayley, Douglas Brayley, Jessica Brooks, Bruce Brumberg, David Bunis, Krista Busnach, Michael Busnach, Jeffrey Bussgang, Marjorie Butler, Mike Cantor, Michael Chinitz, Ates Civitci, Marc Cohen, Ellen Cohen-Kaplan, Doug Cornelius, Eleanor Cornell, Nava Cretu-Kessel, Carter Crowley, Bill Crowley, Suzan Czajkowski, Jacob Decker, Marc Decker, Andrew DeCristoforo, David Diamond, Debbie Donovan, Portia Durbin, Nina Eigerman, Barb Epstein, Michael Epstein, Phil Evans, Sue Farrell, Joel Feinberg, Nicole Ferreira, Ridgely Ficks, Charles Fievet, Erica Fine, Joshua Fine, Nancy Finn, Mark Fitzpatrick, Michael Frieze, Tom Gallitano, Thomas Garnitz, Paul Gershkowitz, Brian Ghoshhajra, Jason Gilbert, Wolfram Goessling, Jonathan Gordon, Charles Grant, Gregory Grobstein, Penelope Grossman, Dave Grossman, Marc Gundersheim, Barbara Gutman, Kathryn Harris, Ira Hart, Doug Haslam, Spencer Haught, Deborah Hicks, James Hirsch, Karen Hirsch, Zoe Hirsch, Philip Hirshberg, Steven Holstein, Matthew Horvitz, Adam Howes, John Ingram, David Iwatsuki, Michael Johnstone, Todd Kamens, Jeff Kaplan, Jeff Karp, Barnet Kessel, Leah Koenigsberg, Mark Krajewski, Patricia Krajewski, Ronald Lanoue, Bernard Lebow, Jas Lee, Peter Lefkowitz, Maria Levit, Alexandra Levy, David Levy, Joshua Levy, Jeffrey Lieb, Frank Litwin, Ronald Lubin, Michelle Luo, Shannon Macomber, Matthew Manke, Ted Marple, Sonya Marquez, Suzanne Masterson, Christophe Mathieu, Sean McDonald, Jennie McGarry, Tim McGovern, Matthew McGuiness, Michael McKay, Michael McKee, Daniel Mekler, Isy Mekler, Kathleen Moineau, Elizabeth Morahan, Jeremy Munn, Noa Munn, Ann Murray, Eric Nadel, Lee Nadler, Andrew Nathan, Brooks Neufeld, Russell Neufeld, Daniel Norton, Adam Nussenbaum, Allison ONeill, Barbara Oppenheimer, Matthew Oser, Alan Paret, David Pemstein, Rachel Pemstein, Larry Perlov, Alex Peselman, John Plotz, Maya Poorvu, Jack Prior, Melissa Prudhomme, Isabella Pucker, Ken Pucker, Benjamin Raby, Karen Rednor, Robert Reisch, Cory Resnick, Duncan Richardson, Rachel Rock, Pam Rosenberg, Judi Rosensweig, Michele Rosenthal, Christopher Ryan, Helle Sachse, Robin Saitz, Paul Samson, Brian Schoenbeck, Lisa Schwartz, Ellen Segal, Steven Segal, Steven Siegel, Michael Silverstein, John Simmons, Barry Slosberg, Stephen Smith, Ethan Solomon, Robert Solomon, Melissa Sommer, David Southiere, John Speyer, Roger Spingarn, Alan Starr, Laurie Starr, Denise Staubach, Peter Staubach, Russell Stein, Andy Sucoff, Paul Sullivan, Adam Suttin, Scott Timmins, Craig Underwood, Ariel Vardi, Rachel Vautour, Jake Weinberg, Scott Weiss, Andrew Welch, Adam Wesley, Jeffrey West, Alex Whiting, Jackie Wilkins, Loie Williams, Michael Wolfson, Michelle Wong, Wenxin Xu, Phillip Yacouby, Jeff Zabel, Jonathan Zaff, Joyce Zakim

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Ed. Note: The author completed his third Pan-Mass Challenge ride this weekend.