#WhyIPMC guest blog by Jen Marchetti, Living Proof®, 11-year Team Jake rider
I committed to my first Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) in 2015 hoping to do a little good—to give others a reason to believe in something better. What I didn’t know was that I would soon need that same hope for myself.
Just days before my first ride, I was diagnosed with a rare neuroendocrine tumor called a pheochromocytoma. I was told I had a 10% chance of survival. Surgery was my only hope. “Shocked” doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I knew something was seriously wrong, but I had no idea just how close I was to dying.
At first, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A tumor that puts your body in fight-or-flight mode—and could kill you at any moment? It sounded unreal. What made it even harder was how little was known about these tumors. Pheochromocytomas are rare, and research was limited. I was met with terrifying uncertainty: “We don’t know.” It’s devastating to hear those words from doctors when your life hangs in the balance.
From that moment, the PMC became something far more personal. It wasn’t just about helping others anymore
—it became a mission of survival, of hope, and of advocacy.
On August 28, 2015, I had life-saving surgery.
A few years later, I became a peer supporter for the Pheo Para Alliance, an organization that helps people with these complicated neuroendocrine tumors. I’ve met so many others whose lives are shaped by this disease—but unlike me, they don’t have the option of surgery. For them, each day brings uncertainty, fear, and the burden of living with an illness that feels debilitating and never ending.
In 2023, the FDA approved a drug called Belzutifan, developed at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for certain forms of kidney cancer. And most recently on May 14th, 2025 it became the first and only FDA-approved oral treatment for people living with metastatic pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma—or those who cannot have surgery. For many, Belzutifan is the first true hope.
This is the hope I ride for.
I ride for those still waiting, those still fighting, those who wake up each day not knowing what comes next. I ride because research saves lives. I ride with deep gratitude—for every rider, every volunteer, and every donor who makes this mission possible.
Thank you. You are making a difference. You are giving hope.
