Elizabeth and Gerry at a 2011 triathlon

Gordon Sewall and his intrepid teammates Gerry Campos and Rob Moore are diligently training for their August ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). The PMC is an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Team Elizabeth is designating all the funds they raise to the Elizabeth Alling Sewall Endowment at Dana-Farber, which will fund research to better detect and treat lobular breast cancer. Their PMC ride on Saturday, August 3rd will take them 84 miles from Wellesley to Bourne, Massachusetts.

Rob and daughter Grace

Gordon reports that he and Gerry will be heading out for a 50 mile training ride this coming Sunday. Meanwhile, this past weekend, Rob successfully completed The Prouty, a 100-mile event in New Hampshire that raises funds for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. What better way to train for a bike-a-thon than riding in another bike-a-thon? Rob dedicated his ride in this year’s Prouty to Elizabeth’s memory.

Elizabeth and Gordon, competing as a team in the June 2012 Cohasset Triathlon. She said this was her favorite tri because she and Gordon did it together.

Battling record-setting heat, humidity and tight hamstrings during the last month of training have served to deepen the team’s resolve to succeed in this challenge. Elizabeth, in completing her final triathalon last June, modeled the slow but steady method of competing. Gordon says, “The example she set last year will guide our effort on August 3rd. She’ll be along for the ride, I’m sure.”

The team is grateful for the generous donations it has received already. They have collectively raised $18,200 so far, with an additional $6,000 of pledges made, for a total of $24,200 to date. As they move into the final two weeks of training, they hope to surpass their team goal of $30,000 for Elizabeth’s Endowment Fund. Successfully reaching this goal would put Elizabeth’s fund at just over $200,000, an incredible achievement in less than a year’s time.

If you’d like to donate, you can do so by credit card online at Gordon’s page at the PMC website. OR, you can mail a check made out to “Pan-Mass Challenge” to Gordon at: 170 Centre Street, Milton MA 02186.