ANZAC Day Challenge 2026: Row 2504m

The alarm goes early on 25 April. Most of the country is still dark. Somewhere a garage light flicks on, an erg slides out from the wall, and someone types a distance into the monitor that looks like a typo: 2504 metres.

It isn’t a typo. The ANZAC Day Challenge asks rowers across Australia and New Zealand to row 2504 metres on Saturday 25 April 2026, because the distance is the date: 25/04. The window runs from dawn in New Zealand to dusk in Western Australia. Anyone can take part: on your own, with your gym, or with your club. Every logged row adds to a shared tally for the day.

Remembrance usually asks for stillness. A minute’s silence, a bowed head. This challenge offers something to sit alongside that: a few minutes of honest work, done at the same strange distance as strangers across two countries.

How it works

Two ways in, both through the ANZAC Challenge page.

Upload your result. Row the distance, photograph your PM screen, and upload it. If the verification code is visible, your result counts as a verified upload.

Or enter it manually. You can row anywhere and type the result in yourself. Every effort still counts towards the challenge.

Either way, the job on the day is the same. Sit down. Set the monitor to 2504. Row.

One row, three leaderboards

Your result lands in three places at once. Your individual tally, where you can watch your own ANZACs stack up. Your club’s total, which every member lifts. And your country’s count, building across the time zones from the first rows in New Zealand to the final efforts in WA. A solo row in a dark garage still moves all three numbers.

ANZACs and biccies

The challenge keeps its own units.

2504m = 1 ANZAC 118 Cal = 1 ANZAC Biccy

The distance carries the weight; the biccy carries the smile. And the distance is chosen with care. It’s long enough to mean something. It’s short enough that someone giving the erg a first go can finish it. Experienced rower or complete beginner, the number on the monitor is the same.

Share it, and back the Appeal

If you’d like to share your row, post a photo or short clip with #ANZACDAYERG. Selected posts may be featured through the day to show how people across Australia and New Zealand took part.

Participation is free. If you’re able, consider supporting the ANZAC Appeal, which helps fund support for veterans and their families.

The details

Date: Saturday 25 April 2026 Window: from dawn in NZ to dusk in WA Log your row: ANZAC Challenge page Hashtag: #ANZACDAYERG Donate: ANZAC Appeal

By dusk in Western Australia the window closes and the tallies stand, built one row at a time by people who chose to remember through movement. Next time the alarm sounds early on a 25th of April, you’ll already know what to type into the monitor. The distance is the date.