KEVIN SINFIELD is to go above and beyond for Rob Burrow and motor neurone disease (MND) once more.
The Leeds Rhinos and England great has already helped raise over £8 million since former team-mate Burrow was diagnosed with MND in 2019, by taking on three endurance challenges.
After completing seven marathons in seven days in 2020, and running 101 miles from Leicester to Leeds in 24 hours the following year, Sinfield ran seven ultra-marathons in consecutive days last year, from Edinburgh to Old Trafford.
His latest challenge, the ‘7 in 7 in 7 Challenge’, will see him run a marathon, plus one extra mile, each day for a week, in seven different cities.
Sinfield will start on Friday, December 1, running between Leeds and York, and finish on Thursday, December 7, in London, going from Twickenham to the Mall.
In between, he will run in Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton.
The challenge will support five MND charities. The main beneficiaries will be the MND Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity’s appeal to build the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds, while My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the Irish MND Association and the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation will also benefit.
The initial target is to raise £777,777, and donations can be made online at donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield.
“I did say last year that the Ultra 7 in 7 would complete the trilogy but there was always that caveat that Rocky 4 was my favourite Rocky film,” said Sinfield.
“The MND community have always given us incredible support and we wanted to find a way that we could show that support for more people around the country.
“I would especially like to thank all the local authorities and councils who have given us their support; it means so much to everyone.
“Physically this will be my toughest challenge as I have not been able to do the amount of training that I have done previously because of my commitments for the (Rugby Union) World Cup and we have set an ambitious time target to complete each ultra so people know that we will be pushing ourselves to the limit.
“I am looking forward to it and seeing all the support out on the streets once again.
“For the MND community, every second counts and we will be making the most of every step on this challenge to raise awareness, funds and support for that community.”
Esther Wakeman, chief executive of Leeds Hospitals Charity, said: “Kevin has always gone the extra mile for Rob and the MND community. His unwavering commitment to support the fight against motor neurone disease is truly awe-inspiring.
“Through his series of epic challenges, Kevin has already contributed over £2 million to our Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal. We’re incredibly grateful to Kevin for lacing up his running shoes once again to fundraise, as we still need £1.9 million to help make Rob’s dream of a specialist centre in Leeds a reality.”
