Why I PMC - Nicole Peterson

Why I PMC guest blog by Nicole Peterson, 3-year Team Beachcomber rider

I signed up for the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2024 as a way to give back and honor my friends and family who have been affected by cancer—especially my friend and high school teammate, Courtney Quinno-Lynch, who passed away from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015 at just 19 years old. Courtney was bold, outspoken, and lived fiercely. I feel compelled to live that way for her—to try new things and step outside my comfort zone.

What began as a personal challenge-buying a bike, learning to ride, fundraising, and training-quickly became something much bigger than me. Everyone I met had a story. Cancer has touched all of us, and it can leave you feeling helpless against something so strong and relentless. The Pan-Mass Challenge gives you a way to fight back—a way to turn grief into action and love into miles. Since I started riding, even more cancer diagnoses have impacted my family and friends. That reality only deepens my commitment. I can't take away the diagnoses. I can't fight the battles for them. But I can ride. I can raise money. I can say their names. I can show up.