LENOX, Mass. – The Pan-Mass Challenge Unpaved is a charitable bike ride raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Friday riders were able to check in and volunteers were setting up for the event at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in Lenox.

This marks the 45th year of the Pan-Mass Challenge and the third year of the Unpaved ride in Berkshire County, where they hope to raise over $1 million with around 415 riders participating.

This year, the Pan-Mass Challenge crossed $1 billion in lifetime donations raised for the fight against cancer.

Many riders and volunteers each year are cancer survivors themselves, so you can imagine it’s particularly poignant for them to be able to get out on a bike and help support those on a bike after they’ve overcome cancer,” said the CEO of Pan-Mass Challenge, Jarett Collins.

Sarah Thomas has been a volunteer with the Pan-Mass Challenge for 14 years and says PMC is important to her with the work they do in supporting Dana-Farber.

“I started volunteering because my best friend’s dad was a volunteer long before he was a patient at Dana Farber. We have since lost him to multiple myeloma, but we volunteer in his honor and happy to do it,” Thomas said. 

Lee Levitt has ridden in the Pan-Mass Challenge since 1998 and says he has personally raised over $165,000 with his rides.

“A ride was just a ride for me until about five minutes into that first morning in Sturbridge in 98, when there were two older woman by the side of the road in fold up chairs with signs saying 'thank you for riding.' And I’m riding along going, 'thanking me for…' and all of a sudden, they’re cancer survivors and right then, it became a cause,” Levitt said.

The ride is Saturday at 9 a.m. and riders are able to take part in the 50- or 30-mile route. People are still able to register to ride, but PMC says to just make sure to get to Camp Mah-Kee-Nac by 8 a.m. Saturday.