In an incredibly selfless act, born out of care for a family friend, Armidale 16-year-old Ted Chick is about to embark on a nearly 560km run from Sydney to Armidale.
The run, which has been dubbed Miles 4 Mac, will raise funds for the not-for-profit organisation Win the Day. Win the Day helps families struggling through childhood cancer with accommodation, meals, treatment grants and research funding.
Ted’s father, Anthony Chick, said, “We’re all incredibly proud of Ted for taking on this challenge – to see him take on something so selfless, to think outside the square and inspire other kids is just amazing.”
Miles 4 Mac is all Ted’s brainchild. In November 2023, family friend and fellow Armidale School (TAS) peer 14-year-old Mac Downes got a shock diagnosis.
Having previously always been healthy and active, his mum took him for some routine checkups after he had complained of a sore back that was making it hard for him to sleep.
From here the story became every parent’s worst nightmare as the Downes family received the news that Mac had a large tumour located between his T3 and T6 vertebrae, causing progressive loss of movement to his legs, and spinal damage.
Mac received instant surgical intervention and is now coming towards the end of this third round of chemotherapy.
“Ted took it really hard, he was just so incredibly low about Mac’s situation,” said Mr Chick.
“Then all of a sudden he just came up with this idea of doing this run – he’d just finished Nedd Brockmann’s book so I think that was a big inspiration – so straight away we were on the phone to Mac’s mum to see what they all thought and they loved the idea.”
The Downes family asked that the proceeds towards the run be donated to Win the Day.
“Win the Day helped them out a lot when they had that first trip to Syndey with Mac, helping them find accommodation and just easing some of that stress on making everything else work so that they could really focus on Mac and his treatment,” said Mr Chick.
Win the Day is managed by former Wallaroo Ruby League player Kirsty Giteau. She started the foundation after their own experiences when their daughter was diagnosed with a rare cancer at just four years old.
In a statement on the Win the Day website Ms Giteau said, “I dream of the day that no family, particularly a rare childhood cancer family, will ever have to worry whether they can afford to care for their sick child.”
Ted will be departing Syndey on the first day of his run next Wednesday 24 April 2024.
“Mac is in and out of hospital but doing well so he’s going to travel the first 1km in his wheelchair with Ted from the hospital down to Coogee Beach on Wednesday,” said Mr Chick.
From there Ted will then begin the arduous trek to Armidale via Mac’s hometown of Uralla.
“He’s going to have to do about 30km a day to keep the pace,” said Mr Chick.
To make the challenge all the more impressive, Ted, whilst by all accounts a very sporty and active teen, is not particularly interested or well-trained in long-distance running.
“He’s naturally very athletic but he’s more into things like motorbikes – so no real specific training for him, he’s doing Tour De Rocks at the moment and has been running about 5km every day but it’s definitely going to be a challenge,” said Mr Chick.
“There’ll be hard days and easy days but I don’t doubt he can do it.”
The Chick family, including Ted’s mum and dad and his older brother and younger sister will all be travelling behind him for support, borrowing their grandparent’s motorhome as the support vehicle for the journey.
“We’re going to have a lot of family and friends with us along the way too and we’re pretty confident that once we’re on the road we’ll probably have some more people join us,” said Mr Chick.
The same goes for fundraising efforts thus far:
“We’ve had a couple of great local businesses come on and sponsor a day for Ted, and friends and family have also started donating but we think there will be a lot more once people see us out there.” Said Mr Chick.
“I think it’s about a lot more than raising money as well, although that obviously helps.”
“It’s also about raising awareness – the plight of regional families who have to leave their homes to get lifesaving treatment for their kids is a big deal – I think Ted is really hoping that there will be a legacy to this and that it can become an annual event.”
Ted is expected back in Armidale on Monday 13 May. Mr Chick said that they are hopeful that there will be some form of welcome home event that the public will be welcome to attend on the day.
“Adam Marshall (MP) and the Armidale Mayor Sam Coupland have both been incredibly supportive, as have the boys’ school (TAS), so yes we’ll definitely be doing some kind of event, hopefully at Curtis Park, but we’ve just got to iron out a few details.”
You can follow Ted’s journey, donate to the cause, or buy merchandise visit the Miles 4 Mac website, or visit the Win the Day website to learn more about their work.
Like what you’re reading? Support New England Times by making a small contribution today and help us keep delivering local news paywall-free. Donate now