The 19 for 19 Challenge will take place at a new location this year, with organisers moving the beloved Armidale fundraising walk to Warrane Station for 2026.
The event, which honours the memory of Armidale teenager Anya Zuber, will be held on Sunday, 18 October. Participants can choose between a 19km bush walk or a 7.5km family-friendly option, both winding through Warrane’s granite landscapes and sweeping vistas.
Event organiser Elizabeth Egan, Anya’s mother, said the move reflected how much the challenge had grown since it began in 2021.
“The decision to move to Warrane Station reflects how much the event has grown since we started in 2021,” said Ms Egan. “We’ve had over 2,500 participants walk with us across five years, and we needed a venue that could safely accommodate that growth while still honouring what makes the 19for19 special – the connection to our community and landscape.”
For the past five years, walkers have crossed four private properties in the New England gorge country. This year, Warrane Station’s owners have opened their gates to the challenge for the first time.
“Warrane is a stunning property, and we’re grateful to the landowners for partnering with us,” said Ms Egan. “The scale of the place, the sweeping vistas and granite landscapes, really captures the beauty of the New England.”
Despite the change of scenery, organisers promise the walk will be just as demanding as in previous years, with both the 19km and 7.5km routes still on offer so people of all abilities can take part.
Ms Egan said the community response since the event’s small beginnings had been remarkable.
“The response from Armidale has been extraordinary,” said Ms Egan. “What started as a family’s grief in pushing for better outcomes for these poor kids who receive this diagnosis to a wonderfully inclusive community gathering.”
Schools, workplaces and local businesses across the region have thrown their support behind the cause, and this year a new 19-day challenge called the 19for19 Gauntlet will run in the lead-up to the main event, giving solo walkers, running groups and workplace teams more ways to get involved.
Since 2021, the event has raised more than $1.1 million for osteosarcoma research at the Children’s Cancer Institute. This year’s goal is $200,000.
“We’ve now raised over $1.1 million since 2021, and this year’s goal is $200,000,” said Ms Egan. “That money goes directly to world-first research into osteosarcoma at the Children’s Cancer Institute.”
The challenge is named for Anya, Ms Egan’s daughter, who was diagnosed with high-grade metastatic osteosarcoma at 13 and died in 2020 at the age of 19 after a six-year battle with the disease. Her dying wish was for her experience to drive change for other young patients.
“Please use my body, my experience to do something about this,” Anya said.
The research being funded through Anya’s Wish is led by Associate Professor Emmy Fleuren at the Children’s Cancer Institute. In July, findings from the project were published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, after researchers examined more than 100 children and young adults with sarcoma to identify new predictive tools and drug targets.
Standard treatment for osteosarcoma, involving major surgery and intensive chemotherapy, has not changed in four decades.
Participants can register for the Armidale walk or set up a virtual fundraising page for the 19 for 19 Challenge online.
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