19 for 19 Challenge – A Walk for Anya’s Wish

5:45am – Registration and T-Shirt Collection at the Armidale Visitors Information Centre.

7:00am – 19km and 6.5km event starts, after Welcome to Country.

* All walkers should have completed the course by 2:30pm.

Buses will depart at 6:00am, 6:15am, 6:30am and last bus 6:45am. There is NO parking at the event site. The bus is the only form of transport. This is to lessen the impact on the roads and to protect the paddocks. Buses will be ready to return you to the Armidale Visitors Information Centre.

At just 13, Armidale local Anya Zuber was diagnosed with high grade metastatic osteosarcoma, an aggressive tumour that grows in the bones of the body. After six years of treatment, hospital stays and surgeries, Anya passed away at just 19 years of age, on 12 September 2020.

Anya wished that her body, her experience with the disease, and any other resources be focused on the ongoing research to end osteosarcoma and improve treatments.

Anya’s family is working with the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA) and has established a research project called Anya’s Wish. This world leading critical research project will significantly improve therapies and survivability for young people diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

A highlight of Anya’s childhood in the New England was bush walks and picnics in the region’s beautiful national parks.

Anya was determined to help fund research into this disease to change the course of history for children suffering from osteosarcoma in generations to come.

Tour de Rocks (19 for 19 Committee) is delighted to announce a new ‘exclusive access’ 19km for this year’s 20254 19 for 19 walk. In keeping with the spectacular New England gorge country, this year the walk will encompass three stunning properties, “Victoria Park”, “Mt McDonald” and “By Gorge”, each with unique vistas across the escarpment to the finish line at the magnificent Dangar’s Falls.

There will be two distances: a 6.5km family/kids fun walk and a 19km walk.

Age limits apply to the walks.