Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield embarks on latest epic challenge for Rob Burrow

Kevin Sinfield, his team and Rob Burrow
Kevin Sinfield with his team and Rob Burrow Credit: Leeds Rhinos

Rugby league legend Kevin Sinfield has set off on his latest epic challenge in honour of his friend and former teammate Rob Burrow.

The former Leeds Rhinos captain and current Leicester Tigers coach is aiming to run 60km a day for seven days – seven ultra marathons – to raise money for research into motor neurone disease (MND).

Embarking from Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, he is aiming to finish at Old Trafford in Manchester at half time in the Rugby League World Cup Final on Saturday, 19 November.

En route he will pass through Melrose, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, York, Leeds and Bradford.

Who is the Leeds Rhinos legend and MND advocate Rob Burrow?

The challenge was announced on 26 September, the 40th birthday of Burrow – a fellow former Rhinos player, who has fought a high-profile battle with MND.

Sinfield said: "The bigger message within this is that I'm doing this for a mate and I want Rob to know that I'm with him shoulder to shoulder throughout this. 

"I cannot go through what he's going through but I can show him that, I can fight and scrap too and I can show him that make him laugh still and make him smile and that's what mates do, right?"

Sinfield has already completed a series of remarkable endurance challenges, raising more than £5million.

Taking inspiration from other ex-sporstmen affected by MND, including Doddie Weir and Stephen Darby, as well as Burrow, his initial aim is to raise £777,777 from this challenge alone.

"I hope down the track, be it five, 10 or 15 years time we will have played a very small part in finding a cure," he said.

Day one of Kevin Sinfield's epic challenge

MND is a degenerative and life-shortening brain disease which reduces the sufferer's ability to control and move their body. There is currently no cure.

Burrow was diagnosed in 2019 and has since been at the forefront of raising awareness of the condition and fundraising for research.

Among the causes to benefit from the fundraising will be a new specialist centre for MND patients to be built in Leeds. The centre, named after Burrow, will be the first of its kind in Europe.

Supporters can donate here.