Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Brian and Sylvia Atkinson of Christiansburg are riding in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge this weekend in honor of their granddaughter, who won the fight with brain cancer thanks to "research funded by events like this," Brian Atkinson said.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Two Christiansburg residents are riding with more than 5,500 other cyclists in the most lucrative athletic fundraising event in the country this weekend at the 29th annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge to help raise their share of $34 million for the Jimmy Fund, the fundraising arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Brian Atkinson, 64, and his wife, Sylvia, 63, are riding in the PMC for the fifth consecutive year. They started riding in the challenge in honor of their granddaughter, Melanie McDaniel, of Londonderry, N.H., who was diagnosed with brain cancer as an infant. The girl was supposed to be dead at 9 months old with an incurable tumor, but an experimental therapy helped save her life.

"She's now 7 years old, and it was research funded by events like this that brought her through it," Brian Atkinson said. His wife is equally eager to tell their granddaughter's story and help raise money for others who face similar situations.

"This is the fifth year that Melanie has been off chemotherapy," said Sylvia Atkinson, a former Merck employee who now works as an office manager for Electric Jet at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. "We just keep doing it because it's a lot of fun and it's for such a good cause."

The Atkinsons have always been active people, participating in triathlons in the past, and Brian Atkinson, who retired from teaching physical education at a school in New Jersey and now owns Surefyre Stove Installations in Christiansburg, said the couple is always looking for something physical to do.

"This is something I can do for my granddaughter, and it's a tremendous ride," he said. "This ride beats anything we've done in the past, and the passion of the people who ride and volunteer is phenomenal."

Cyclists in the PMC are required to raise between $1,300 and $4,000 each to ride, depending on which route they choose out of seven varied routes that in total cross through 46 cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. The longest route is a two-day, 200-mile ride, which the Atkinsons have done in previous years. This will be the first year the couple has opted to do a shorter, one-day, 60-mile ride because of the costs incurred from gas prices and lodging on the trip to New England.

"Since we moved to Christiansburg about four years ago, it's been sort of tough getting up there for the ride, but we feel it's important and have fun doing it," Brian Atkinson said.

The two cyclists have raised about $3,000 between them, mostly through donations from friends and relatives. The Atkinsons send letters out each year to about 100 people asking them donate. The average PMC cyclist raises about $6,000, according to the PMC's Web site.

PMC riders are between the ages of 15 and 85, and they come from different athletic backgrounds. One thing they all have in common, though, is a drive to raise money for cancer research, spokeswoman Jackie Herskovitz said.

"Riders and volunteers come back year after year," she said. "The PMC is like a big family -- everyone working together for the same cause. The weekend is one time out of the year when you feel like you are part of a greater whole and that you are really making a difference."

Herskovitz said people are often isolated in their lives, focused on jobs and families, but that the PMC gives them an opportunity to come together to work in unity for something that will end up helping everyone.

"Dana-Farber is one of the top cancer institutes in the country, so the research they conduct helps people around the globe," she said. "Those of us who have cancer now and those of us who will get it in the future -- the PMC funds this research."

Often, doctors ride with their patients at the PMC. Some friends and family members ride in honor of loved ones lost to, or battling, cancer. In addition, nearly 300 cancer survivors are riding in the event that draws out 2,600 volunteers in addition to the cyclists who come from 35 states and eight countries.

"The atmosphere at the PMC is great," Brian Atkinson said. "The whole state mobilizes to fully support this event. There are people out at the ends of their driveways with water, fruit and thank you signs the whole way."

Because of the volunteerism surrounding the challenge, virtually 100 percent of the money raised goes to the Jimmy Fund. The Atkinsons say the sense of compassion at the event is what makes it so beautiful, and the volunteers each have a unique way of helping.

"There's one really steep hill about midway through the challenge that is gut-wrenching," Brian Atkinson said. "There's a guy there every year on that hill who plays the bagpipes, and it's amazing how that gets you over the hill. He must just stand there and play all day long."

While the Atkinsons' story is unique, they said everyone who participates has strong feelings and special reasons surrounding their participation in the event.

"There are so many people there that you're always riding with somebody, and you always share why you're riding," Brian Atkinson said. "It's a tremendous fellowship."