One marathon is an achievement but seven? Leeds Rhino’s Kevin Sinfield did just that, completing the popular 26.2 mile distance in seven days to fundraise for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and Rob Burrow. The former captain and now Director of Rugby ran through challenging conditions as he notched up the miles whilst the donations kept rolling in.

He undertook this challenge in support of his friend and former team mate Rob Burrow who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in December 2019. Two years prior to that he had ended his career on a high, helping his club to a win at the Super League Grand Final and was looking ahead to the future. Upon receiving this diagnosis, Rob Burrow was determined to lead as normal a life as possible, drawing upon his rugby training to deal with the physical and mental aspects whilst raising awareness of MND. 

Kevin’s marathon challenge began at 7am on Tuesday 1 December and supported by five friends who ran or cycled alongside him over the seven days. They all wore distinctive orange, white and blue MNDA vests with ‘7’ on the back – the number worn by Rob Burrow during his playing days. 

He started every marathon at 7am with the aim of finishing them by 11am so around the four hour mark but went under that for all seven. His finish times were 3:39, 3:38, 3:34, 3:44, 3:43, 3:48 and 3:41 respectively. An impressive feat considering the global average time for a marathon is 4:21. 

Kevin Sinfield had a fundraising target of £77, 777 but this was blown away by the final marathon, reaching over £1.2 million. It has continued on its upward trajectory and passed the £2.5M mark.

The money will be divided between MNDA and the Burrow Family. 

Image courtesy of Wikipedia