Saturday will be the last Wildwood Challenge for Ryan Wilkinson, who pioneered the event 12 years ago as a seven-year-old, inspiring the statewide phenomenon of the PMC Kids Rides.
This year, The Wildwood Challenge will be one of 40 Pan Massachusetts Challenge Kids Rides held in neighborhoods throughout New England and beyond.
Last week, about 500 kids participated in the PMC Kids Ride in Westwood.
“I’m glad that people have taken the torch,” said Wilkinson, who will attend New York University in the fall. He said he’ll spend a little time Saturday asking around to recruit a new family to take over the charter PMC Kids Ride. His younger sister, Hattie, he said, will be available to help with the transition.
Nearly 7,000 cyclists between the ages of two and 15 will ride between one and 26 miles in mini-bike-a-thons to raise money for cancer research. The PMC Kids Rides are spokes in the PMC wheel, supporting more than 5,500 adult PMC cyclists in their mission to fund cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund. The Pan-Mass Challenge is the two-day, 190-mile bike-a-thon held each August. Since 1980, the PMC has raised nearly $240 million for the Jimmy Fund. PMC Kids Rides offer a way for children to become part of the PMC mission, involving young people in volunteerism and fundraising in a safe and athletic way.
To give the PMC Kids Rides an additional push, Patrick Byrne, CEO of e-business Overstock.com, has challenged the PMC Kids Rides program to raise $1 million. If they do, he will contribute an additional $500,000 to The PMC Kids rides. After the tykes pulled in $728,000 in 2008, and with this new corporate challenge, there is no telling how far they will push in 2009.
The Wildwood Challenge expects 100 children, ages four to 14, to ride up to 14 miles by riding around the block 25 times in Medfield. The Wilkinson family started the children’s biking event in 1998 when Ryan, then eight, was told he was too young to ride in the PMC. The Wildwood Challenge will hold a party after the ride, which will include a DJ, refreshments, and a silent auction. The ride hopes to raise $20,000.
Wilkinson said there’s still time to register for Saturday’s ride.
The Wildwood Challenge will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 20 at 7 Wildwood Drive, Medfield. Contributions can be made payable to the Pan-Mass Challenge. To register, visit http://kids.pmc.org/medfield. For more information, email Regina Wilkinson at rwmedfield@msn.com or call 508-359-4892, or 800-WE-CYCLE.
