# Billy Starr

Source: https://onco.cc/people/billy-starr/  
OnCo record `billy-starr` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

After his mother died of melanoma he organised a bike ride across Massachusetts in 1980 with 36 riders; the Pan-Mass Challenge has since raised $1.125 billion for Dana-Farber and passes on every rider-raised dollar.

## Summary

Billy Starr organised the first Pan-Mass Challenge in 1980, after his mother's death from melanoma and a long hike on the Appalachian Trail, with just 36 riders and 10 volunteers. The PMC's own account records that it now involves more than 6,800 riders and 3,500 volunteers, that since 1980 it has raised $1.125 billion for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, that 100 percent of all rider-raised funds go directly to cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, and that it provides 67 percent of the Jimmy Fund's annual revenue. It is the largest athletic fundraiser for a single institution in the United States and the template for hundreds of charity rides. Starr still leads the organisation and rides each year.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: hero; donor
- Role: Founder of the Pan-Mass Challenge, which has raised $1.125 billion for Dana-Farber
- Specialisms: Cancer fundraising; Endurance events; Melanoma

## Sources

- Pan-Mass Challenge: about: https://www.pmc.org/about

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/)
- institutions: [Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/dana-farber/), [Pan-Mass Challenge](https://onco.cc/institutions/pan-mass-challenge/), [The Jimmy Fund](https://onco.cc/institutions/jimmy-fund/)
- bottlenecks: [Funding follows fashion, not burden](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-funding-allocation/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/billy-starr.json