The Balmoral Burn celebrates 25 years of Sydney’s steepest charity challenge
The Balmoral Burn is back on Sunday 24 May and 2026 marks 25 years of Sydney’s steepest challenge that raises funds for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. Humpty provides medical equipment and healthcare initiatives for children to over 520 hospitals and health services across Australia.
“The intent was only to ever do one,” says Phil Kearns, founder of the event and former Wallabies captain. “And now we’re about to have our 25th.”
Phil’s son spent five days in Royal North Shore Hospital with suspected meningococcal over 25 years ago. Phil says the hospital staff was ‘magnificent’ but the facilities were ‘pretty basic’ and he was sleeping on an old army cot on the floor.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to put a lick of paint on the walls for the kids to make it a nicer environment? If we raised $10,000, that’d be good.’”
Phil was inspired while walking up the steep hill on Awaba Street in Mosman and called Humpty’s founder, Paul Francis, who worked with Phil to create the 420-metre Balmoral Burn. The Burn had a few hundred contestants that first year followed by a function at Bathers’ Pavilion with 150 people and raised about $70,000.
Phil with Balmoral Burn Junior Ambassador Benson Archer
“And I thought, ‘That’s good. Now we can pack up and we’ll never have to do it again,’” recalls Phil. “And Paul said to me, ‘You know we’re doing this again next year.’ And I went, ‘Mate, really?’ But we did it the next year and raised about $200,000, over $300,000 the year after, and it just went from there. I think the most we’ve ever made was about $2.2 million in one year.” For the first five years they had to stop the race to let the buses through. Now they close the streets as about 3,000 people take part.
Humpty aims to ensure every child has access to quality healthcare and the annual Burn has raised $36.5 million resulting in thousands of pieces of paediatric medical equipment being donated to Australian hospitals and health services.
The Burn has over 20 race categories including the Celebration Run (like a colour run), Pet and Owner (mostly dogs but they have had a bag of goldfish and a pet rat make it over the finish line!), King and Queen of the Hill, Primary and Senior Schools, age categories and corporate relays.
The Run Baby Run category was started by Humpty supporter Tim Akers who was the first to take on the hill in a baby suit in 2023, honouring his son Archie who was born prematurely at just 900 grams and spent 12 weeks in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit supported by equipment funded by Humpty. Run Baby Run is back for its third year in 2026.
There’s a category for everyone no matter age or fitness level. “You don’t have to run it,” Phil stresses. “As my knees get older and older I get slower and slower, so I mostly walk it now.”
There’s entertainment too, a petting zoo, face painting and you can refuel with a bacon and egg roll and a coffee. And maybe cool down with a swim at Balmoral.
Phil says he is ‘incredibly proud’ of how the event has evolved over the last 25 years.
“Sometimes the craziest ideas can turn out to be the best and people just embrace it and support it,” he says. “And the great thing is that people know that their money actually does save lives. It’s a 420-metre walk or run and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to change the course of someone’s life.”
BALMORAL BURN
Balmoral Burn
Awaba Street, Mosman
Sunday 24 May
From 7am onwards
balmoralburn.com.au