The pain was visibly etched on to Kevin Sinfield’s face when he completed his incredible latest fundraising challenge on Tuesday morning. He arrived at Headingley Stadium, 24 hours and 101 miles since leaving Leicester, alongside the wife and daughter of his former rugby league teammate Rob Burrow, the inspiration for his feats.
Emotionally and physically exhausted, Sinfield pleaded with the BBC’s Sally Nugent not to make him cry as he spoke of the epic run that has raised more than £1m in aid of research into motor neurone disease, which Burrow suffers from. But as he embraced Burrow on the Headingley pitch you would not have begrudged anyone else shedding a tear or two.
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Sinfield and Burrow shared an unbreakable bond as players with Leeds Rhinos, winning every trophy there was to win and solidifying themselves as giants of the game. Yet in the two years since Burrow was diagnosed with the disease, that bond has strengthened further. It is not difficult to see why. “To my amazing friend Kev, you don’t realise the impact you have had on me and the whole MND community,” Burrow said as they sat alongside each other.
After running seven marathons in seven days last year to support those living with MND, raising £2.7m in the process, Sinfield decided to push his body even further for his latest fundraising feat. The goal? Run the 101 miles from his new employers, the rugby union side Leicester Tigers, to his old home stadium in Leeds in 24 hours without sleep: the equivalent of just under four marathons.
Split into 7km sections which Sinfield would aim to complete in under an hour before setting off again, he was joined at various points throughout his Extra Mile challenge by the likes of Alastair Campbell and the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, as guest runners. But it was the sight of Burrow’s wife Lindsey and daughter Macy running the final mile with Sinfield on Tuesday morning which truly stirred the emotions of everyone watching.
Kevin Sinfield walks into Headingley Stadum with Rob Burrow’s daughter, Macy. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA
The 41-year-old initially wanted to raise £100,000, split equally between the MND Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity, where a new care centre will be built in Burrow’s name. By Tuesday lunchtime, the total stood at £1.1m, underlining how the friendship between two of the greatest rugby league players of their generation has captured the public’s affection. The sight of Sinfield making a beeline for Burrow as he arrived at the finish line was poignant, to say the least.
“I’m broken – I don’t know when I’ll be able to run again,” Sinfield told the BBC shortly after the finish. “Rob knows how much we love and care about him. For those really dark moments, you have to think about Rob. It’s been a real team effort from all the crew and I wouldn’t have got it done without them. It was certainly a battle. We wanted a battle, and we got one.”
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Sinfield, perhaps understandably, was unable to speak to reporters after completing the challenge, and Burrow’s father said that it is time the Leicester defence coach scales back on his incredible endurance challenges to protect his own wellbeing. “It’s difficult to take in,” Geoff Burrow told PA Media. “While we all knew he would do it, the main thing is that Kevin took care of himself. The money is great but nowhere as important as Kevin’s health. But he’s done it, I don’t know how.”
Donations continued to pour in after Sinfield had completed his challenge, with the fundraising web page crashing repeatedly. The rugby league community refer to Sinfield as “Sir Kevin” given the manner in which he contributed so much to the sport during his glittering career as a player. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list in June this year but given his recent achievements, the nickname bestowed upon him by supporters may become a reality.
This article was amended on 23 November 2021. A care centre is to be built in Burrow’s name, not a care home as stated in an earlier version.
