Jay's Longest Melanoma March passes through Bowning, Murrumbateman and Yass

It was a heavy loss for his wife Renata Ryan, who he built Rollonin Cafe at Bowning with, as well as his son Richard Ryan, daughter Kim Barton and niece Leanne Singleton.

In his memory on Wednesday, May 8, Mr Ryan, Mrs Barton and Ms Singleton joined Jay's Longest Melanoma March and raised over $10,000 for Australia's third most common cancer.

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They walked the 37 kilometre stretch from Bowning to Murrumbateman, along the Barton and Hume Highways and through rain, cold and wind.

They started at 8am at Rollonin Cafe and arrived at Murrumbateman Country Inn at xx.

Their father and uncle was front of mind throughout Wednesday's walk.

"We've been remembering all of the good times with Dad," Mrs Barton said while passing through Yass.

Rollonin Cafe was Tony's retirement project, Mr Ryan said.

"He would build a bit more of the cafe in between treatments," Mrs Barton said.

Tony was on clinical trials with Melanoma Institute Australia.

"They did work for a while but it kept growing. Then, while he was waiting for another treatment, it grew rapidly," Mrs Barton said.

Tony passed away four years after diagnosis.

"No human should have to go through what people do with cancer," Mrs Barton said.

The walk was also an emotional journey for Tony's niece, Ms Singleton, who said she was very close to her uncle.

"He was the most beautiful man ever," she said.

Their mission is to raise awareness for the skin cancer and the funds to find a cure.

"People need to check their partners' skin, especially their backs because I believe it can be prevented if caught early," Mrs Barton said.

Wednesday marked day 39 of Mr Allen's longest walk for melanoma yet, travelling 2000km from Adelaide to Sydney in 50 days.

This was the second time Mrs Barton and Mr Ryan had walked with Mr Allen. They also joined his 1200km march from Brisbane to Sydney in 2017.

Mr Allen said it was fantastic to walk with the brother and sister again.

"It's good to raise funds and awareness [for melanoma], but also important if we can be a conduit of support to people who have lost loved ones," he said.

Mr Allen said his biggest challenge had been blisters.

"I've had about ten all up but that's not stopping me. I'm going all the way to Sydney," he said.

"The thing that gets me through the days is walking with amazing humans who have sadly been affected by this disease," he said.

Many people have joined Mr Allen on the walk.

Alex Inggs had travelled all the way from Darwin to join the brother, sister, cousin and Mr Allen from Binalong to Murrumbateman.

She lost her son Dennis when he was 30-years-old. He died just four-and-a-half months after diagnosis, Ms Inggs said.

"He was married with three little kids and his wife was pregnant with a fourth one, so he never got to see the youngest one," she said.

Ms Inggs said doctors never found a primary source for Dennis' cancer.

"It's not always found in the form of a suspicious looking mole or spot. He had no symptoms and was at stage four by the time he was diagnosed. There was nothing that could be done from there," she said.

Ms Inggs raised $1600 for Wednesday's walk.

The Yass Valley community threw its support behind the walkers: councillor Kim Turner and his wife Bimbi provided accommodation on Tuesday night and Mrs Turner joined the walk at points, and Rollonin Cafe provided breakfast; Luff Motors provided lunch and refreshments; Murrumbateman Country Inn provided dinner and Abode Hotel provided accommodation on Wednesday.

"The generosity of the community keeps us going," Mr Allen said.

People can continue to donate to Melanoma Institute Australia while the walk continues.

Mr Allen was on his way to Canberra on Thursday, May 9 and would walk to Batemans Bay and then up the coast towards Sydney. He was planning on arriving in the city on May 18.

To donate, visit https://tourdecure.com.au/events/jays-longest-melanoma-march-2019/.