Team KristenStong Joins Pan-Mass Challenge For Cancer Research

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax resident Terri Steinberg described her friend Kristen Cubbage as a model of courage and grace

"She was an amazing person," Steinberg said. "She was determined to get her kids through this. She helped her daughter set up her college dorm and was actually dancing around the dorm with her daughter, and two weeks later she passed."

Cubbage died in 2015 after battling brain cancer for 12 years.

Steinberg and her husband Ben along with Kristen's husband Gary and daughter Caroline, as well as Joe and Kim Butz, Greg Corson, and Tom and Marie Buonsorte, will be taking part in the Pan-Mass Challenge on Aug. 6 and 7. Like thousands of other participants, Team KristenStrong will be cycling for cancer research and care.

The Pan-Mass Challenge is an annual bike-a-thon in Massachusetts to benefit cancer research and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The fundraiser accounts for more than half of the revenue for the Jimmy Fund to support the institute's cancer research and care.

"Gary and Joe have been doing this for 12 years," Terri Steinberg said. "Together, this team has raised over $400,000 for Dana-Farber, which has help cancer patients in this area. Kristin used a targeted drug therapy that came out of the Dana-Farber research.

This year, the Pan-Mass Challenge participants will try to surpass last year's record-breaking fundraising number of $66 million. Over 42 years, the Pan-Mass Challenge has provided $831 million to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

"We’re coming off of a record-breaking fundraising year for Dana-Farber, and we’re thrilled to be ‘back in the saddle’ this summer, bringing our PMC community together for our first traditional PMC weekend since 2019 with our sights set on making an even bigger impact in the fight against cancer," said Billy Starr, founder and executive director of the Pan-Mass Challenge. "We are so inspired by the dedication of our riders, volunteers, donors, sponsors and community members throughout the last two challenging years and can’t wait to see everyone on the road this August for the 43rd PMC."

Team Kristen Strong will be among the 6,000 riders participating in the 2022 Pan-Mass Challenge. Many riders participate in honor of a relative or friend fighting cancer, and over 800 riders and volunteers are cancer survivors or patients. In addition, over 150 Dana-Farber employees are participating as riders or volunteers.

Riders have the option of 16 routes ranging from 25 miles to 210 miles for all kinds of cycling and fundraising abilities. The routes are completed in either one or two days.

Although Terri and her husband Ben have been riding in the Pan-Mass Challenge since 2016, this will be the first full-ride Terri will be participating in with only one lung. A cancer survivor herself, Terri Steinberg lost a lung to the disease in 2019.

"I need to prove to myself that I can do this," she said. "I'm a little nervous. It's going to be hard, but cancer is harder. For every mile that we pedal and it seems like you can't go any further, we think about those who are fighting this disease and trying to get through it. It makes our push seem a little bit less hard. It gives us the inspiration to just keep pedaling."

Team KristenStrong has set a goal to raise $42,000 as part of the Pan-Mass Challenge. As of 4:30 p.m., on Tuesday, the team had already raised over $19,000. Contributions to Team KristenStrong can be made on their Pan-Mass Challenge profile page.

"We appreciate any support we can get, because not everybody is cut out to pedal 192 miles," Terri Steinberg said. "But we'll do the pedaling if people will support us and help us get towards our goal and, hopefully, one day put an end to this horrible disease that takes so many lives."

For more information or to donate in support of a rider, visit www.pmc.org.