Support Jim Coggs at the Pan Mass Challenge

It’s that time of year again. For a few years now – dating right back to the Saabs United days – I’ve been supporting Jim Coggeshall in his bid to raise funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass.

Readers of SU and Swadeology have been gracious contributors to this cause in the past and I hope you can be again this year. And for the record, I’m not asking you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I’ve already kicked in $250 this year. I lost my Dad to cancer in 1985 and have seen numerous family and friends touched by this disease since. This is a great cause.

I’ll let Jim tell the story because he’s invested in this. He’s relied on these guys to save his life more than once, the most recent time being within the last 12 months.

Click here to support Jim’s ride: http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JC0540

Here’s Jim:

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Dear Saab Friends,

For the past three years I have participated in the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, a 200 mile cycling fund raiser for Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Bicycling long distance is an accomplishment in and of itself. But real glory comes from channeling that physical, mental and emotional energy into a goal greater than athletic achievement.

I’ve always had my Saab friends covering my back as I try to fulfill that goal.

Four years ago I was told I had testicular cancer. In the following two years I was treated several times for skin cancer. Last fall I had surgery for aggressive prostate cancer. Thanks to the lifesaving work done at the Dana-Farber I’ll be participating in my fourth PMC in two weeks. And I’m so happy to say I’ll be doing it cancer free for the first time ever!

Last year the PMC organizers set a goal of raising $37 million dollars thru rider sponsorship. We reached that mark and blasted right past it with an extra million. The PMC never rests on their laurels and we riders are tasked with raising $40 million in 2014. Got to say, that’s not bad for some folks out for a weekend bike ride! We are in fact the world’s largest single event medical fund raising event. Best of all, 100% of the money pledged to a rider goes directly to the Dana-Farber. Since 2007 the event overhead has been covered by additional corporate underwriters and a rider entry fee. To do my part I pledged a personal commitment to raise $7,000 which will bring my four year total to over $32,000.

It’s a tall order so I hope I can count on you to help me. My friends in the Saab community have been a significant source of support. I have received thousands of dollars in pledges from you, often from people I have never physically met. I’m pleading for your continued support to help others have the same positive result I have been blessed to have. With every mile we pedal, Pan Massachusetts Challenge riders bring cancer researchers closer to a cure, but it’s just idle work without your support.

To entice donations from the Saab community I will be raffling off a set of very hard to find commemorative logo pins. This is a $125 value – if you can find a set!

Every $10 donated gets you one chance to win. Donate and double your chances. Donate $99 (get it?) and I’ll call it an even 10 chances! Just mention Saab in your donation comment.

Click here to support Jim’s ride: http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JC0540

I can all but guarantee that not a single person reading this has been unaffected by cancer, be it themselves, a family member, or close friend. It is a disease that takes a tremendous toll on not only the sufferer, but on all those close to them. Cancer is not cured by sharing somebody’s pretty colored ribbon post on Facebook or by throwing loose change in a jar. Cancer research is serious business and it takes serious money. Does it work? I’m what the PMC calls a “Living Proof” rider. Last year there were 500 other cancer survivors among the 5,500 riders. I’d call that a success. How wonderful it would be if we could give more people an optimistic prognosis. I truly think that together we can.

In closing I’ll recap what I say every year (although the list unfortunately seems to keep getting longer):

In order to fight cancer:

• I gave my left nut.
• Had chemo poison pumped through my veins.
• Had 12 “radiation rides” in a CAT Scan machine and 18 chest X-Rays.
• Had skin sliced/peeled from my face, not once but twice. Note: Wear sunscreen!
• Had a biopsy spear gun shoved up my butt. Take 12 shots and win a prize!
• Had an MRI of the prostate taken, from the inside. Hint: It involved a balloon I never saw.
• Had my prostate surgically removed by a six armed robot named Da Vinci.
• Just had another operation to put things the robot bumped back into place.

I rode a bicycle 200 miles, three times, raising nearly $25,000. And I’m doing it again – cancer free!

What can you do? How about a pledge at the link below:

http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JC0540