• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Dentist Pulling Out Pedals to Help Combat Cancer

Posted on: Saturday, 6 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Russell Harrington knew there'd be scoffers when he purchased his bike 10 years ago.

"I could never run," the Duxbury dentist, now 63, would tell anyone who'd listen. "I'm not built for it."

Sporadic attempts at conditioning only gave more ammunition to those who liked to needle him.

"I once saw an ad for `hardly used' gym equipment," he recalled, laughing. "When I mentioned it to my son, Steve, he said, `Gee, Dad, why don't you get it? In five years you can sell it, too, and still claim it's been hardly used.' "

Then he crossed paths with Lee Woodworth, a teacher at Silver Lake Regional High who woke up in pain one Thanksgiving morning.

"I told him to come right over and that's how our friendship began," Harrington remembered. "We started talking about mountain bikes, and before I knew it, he got me onto one. I'm sure no one thought I'd stay with it, but Woody kept pushing and soon I was riding with him several times a week, never dreaming of doing something like this."

Harrington will be one of 4,000 riders who hit the road at dawn this morning in the 26th annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a bicycling event that's netted $122 million for the Jimmy Fund and hopes to add another $21 million this weekend.

In addition to paying all of their own expenses, riders must raise minimum sums from sponsors to participate.

Harrington had to raise $3,000 for the privilege of pedaling 192 miles from Sturbridge to Provincetown.

"It really is a privilege," he insisted. "I did it last year and couldn't believe the atmosphere. There are people on bikes all around you. Some are obvious athletes, and then there are some like me. There are a few really heavy riders, too, so I'd pass them, only to pass them again in 20 miles, wondering, `How'd they get ahead of me?' Outward appearances tell you nothing about the desire that's burning inside."

This year, Harrington will have an extra measure of that desire because he's riding in honor of two ladies who've defined his life.

"My mother came down with ovarian cancer," he said. "Then my wife, Sandy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both are doing fine today, but I remember dark times, moments when I just wasn't sure of what tomorrow was going to bring."

He and Sandy celebrated their 40th anniversary last week.

"She's going to be OK," he said. "We're very confident of that. Still, I found myself thinking of all the good times we've had and the unselfishness she's always shown to the kids and me, and the thought of her fighting this alone really got to me. I wanted so much to take her place, to let it be me instead."

The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge met that personal need.

"You find the roads lined with hundreds of people, even at 6 in the morning," he said. "They're cheering like crazy, yelling `Thank you!' as you ride by. Then it hit me that most of them were there because they had friends and family members battling this disease, too.

"It's such an incredible feeling to look at all the riders, all the volunteers, all the spectators, and realize you're finally getting a chance to fight this thing as part of a huge group that's pulling together for the same purpose.

"Ten years ago it wouldn't have been possible, but here I am, honored to be here."

Harrington will be wearing number RH0075.

If you'd like to go along for the ride, at least in spirit, you can make out a check to "PMC, Jimmy Fund" and send it to Harrington at Box 1755, Duxbury, 02331.

Then you, too, would be joining the fight.

Caption: POPPA WHEELY: Russell Harrington plans to ride the Pan- Mass Challenge to honor his wife and mother. STAFF PHOTO BY MATTHEW WEST

Source: Boston Herald

More News in this Category