Red Sox World Series champion Mike Timlin to ride first PMC in memory of Tim and Stacy Wakefield
When Kathryn Nixon called Mike and Dawn Timlin to ask whether they'd ride the 2025 Pan-Mass Challenge, she didn't have to wait long for an answer. Kathryn and Dawn rode their first PMC 20 years ago while their husbands played for the Boston Red Sox.
Dawn says, back then, their training rides were a great way to explore greater Boston and make new friends. It was also a chance to join the PMC community and become a cyclist. "It became part of my life. I still bike. I love it," she explains. After Mike retired from professional baseball, the couple moved to Colorado.
Mike says, smiling, that while he is more comfortable on a motorcycle than on a bike, Kathryn's idea to ride the PMC in memory of Tim and Stacy Wakefield was perfect. He and Dawn agreed that it was a wonderful way to remember dear friends. "We're trying to represent what his spirit was," Mike explains. "Yeah, we're going to have sore spots. It's going to be painful. But look what he went through."
Mike and Tim competed against each other before they both wound up on the Red Sox. Mike says that, upon arriving in Boston, he quickly recognized Tim as a player who embraced his community-on and off the field. He remembers Tim and Stacy as shining examples of what leaders should be in Boston-engaged, involved, caring, and committed.
Tim Wakefield was the team's first Jimmy Fund Captain. He and Stacy spent countless hours with patients and families at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute which made their deaths from cancer- five months apart-seem particularly cruel. "He was probably the best friend I had on the Red Sox. We hunted together; we played together...It was heartbreaking."
Mike and Dawn anticipate an emotional ride from Wellesley to Provincetown. As Dawn knows from experience, there will also be moments of profound joy along the way. "Every stop, there's kids there. There's signs there. There are pictures of different people. It's just amazing. I'm excited for that!"
Mike looks forward to feeling the camaraderie with fellow riders. "That's what we had in the locker room. That's the reason we played the game. Now I get to pedal with my wife, my best buddy, and do that. We'll see if Kathryn is still on our good list after this," he jokes.
Kathryn and the Timlins will be riding for the Red Sox Foundation's , the PMC team named for legendary Red Sox player Ted Williams, who wore #9 and was a dedicated supporter of the Jimmy Fund.
Team 9 Pedal Partner
Pan-Mass Challenge funding represents roughly 66% of the Jimmy Fund's annual revenue. The returning riders say they are looking forward to meeting Team 9's Pedal Partner of eight years, Johnny Morris.
Johnny, who's now 10, was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk brain cancer as a baby. He has had four relapses in his young life. His father John fights back tears recounting more than 50 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, emergency brain, surgery, and more than 200 experiences with anesthesia. But when he describes his son's fighting spirit, and the family's connection to the members of Team 9, John-a Newton firefighter-is beaming. "They constantly check in on us and offer us game tickets and send stuff to the house. And the fact that all the money from the Pan-Mass goes to Dana-Farber, for these patients, the research the treatments... It's extra special because it's a big portion of why John's here today," he said.
After Johnny's diagnosis, John and Colleen say they spent many sleepless nights researching the best hospital for treatment. In the end, there was no question. "We've been all over the country. But Dana-Farber is our home," John says with conviction.
Right now, Johnny's parents and his sister Madison (whose first bike ride without training wheels was a PMC Kids Ride) are celebrating Johnny's longest stretch of good health ever. Colleen says, at the Jimmy Fund, he's known as the Morris Miracle. "And we feel the same way," Colleen says with gratitude. "It's just amazing that we've had such love and support from Team 9 and the Red Sox."
Team 9 All-Stars
Debbie and Bob First are two of Johnny's biggest fans. They are also avid baseball fans and Team 9 all-stars. At 80, Bob is the oldest rider in the 2025 PMC. He has survived two bouts with prostate cancer and, even when a health issue forced him to train for the ride indoors, his commitment to the ride and cause remained unwavering. Asked whether he considered taking a year off from riding, he answers emphatically. "No! What crossed my mind was-how do I get back? What do I have to do? I've been working hard on an indoor bike."
He is hoping to ride outdoors on PMC weekend even if it means sharing a tandem bike with his son. The oft-mentioned PMC phrase "committed" resonates with Bob who is a 40-year rider. "Because commitment is exactly what the PMC, what Dana-Farber, what all the riders and sponsors and the volunteers do," Bob said. "They commit themselves to this incredible event to raise money to kill cancer. To knock it out. To defy cancer. It's going to happen." He adds that Dana-Farber doctors diagnosed his more recent round of cancer thanks to a dye created with PMC funding.
Debbie is a 31-year PMC rider and a miracle in her own right. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1977 when survival rates-for ovarian cancer in particular-were much lower than they are today. At the time, she was advised not to tell anyone about her diagnosis out of fear that she would lose her job. When she lost her hair during chemotherapy, people assumed that she was being treated for breast cancer. She did not correct their assumption for years-not until she was asked to speak to riders at the PMC.
She calls it "an honor" to ride, raise money for cancer research, and support the Morrises. She and Bob are thrilled that Dawn and Kathryn are returning to ride the PMC. Twenty years ago, they recruited the then-Red Sox wives to the PMC and, even when the wives didn't ride, they supported the team with donations. "On every level," Debbie says, "the PMC is a family of experiences."
Kathryn Nixon, who has lost loved ones to cancer and has friends currently undergoing cancer treatment, feels powerfully connected to the PMC. She says that riding with Team 9 in memory of Tim and Stacy Wakefield will make the especially meaningful. "I will definitely carry their strength and their spirit in my heart always," Kathryn said. "And so, just as they did, we want to do everything we can to fight against cancer."
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