Kevin Sinfield on running for Rob Burrow and MND: ‘It’s why I’m on this Earth’

Kevin Sinfield admits there are a “thousand reasons” why he should not be lining up on the start line ahead of his latest inconceivably arduous running challenge, as he aims to complete seven ultra-marathons in seven days across seven cities in the UK and Ireland. But after raising over £8m for Motor Neurone Disease charities, Sinfield remains inspired by his great friend and former Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow and will set off from Headingley on Friday morning with a renewed sense of urgency. “There is one big reason why we should keep going and that’s Rob,” Sinfield says.

This will be Sinfield’s fourth run for MND - the plan was to only do three. After finishing his previous epic last November, the trilogy was complete, but Sinfield believes there was no other choice but to go again. Physically, his latest round of ultra-marathons is set to be the toughest yet and he will tackle the gruelling and relentless distances despite a lack of preparation time, owing to having only returned from the Rugby World Cup, where he was England’s defence coach, at the start of the month. Sinfield shrugs. “Why would we stop?” he asks. “We haven’t got a cure. We feel we can help some more.”

Starting with a run from Leeds to York, he will complete marathons in Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton before finishing in London next Thursday. Along the way, Sinfield and his team will be supported by thousands of people, often lining the freezing streets, many in the early hours when they are still in their pajamas. As well as raising vital funds since his first challenge in 2020, it shows how Burrow’s story has already reached millions more; Sinfield and his team have transformed the conversation and elevated the awareness of MND and a community who, until recent years, did not feel as if they were seen or had a voice.

Sinfield has witnessed its horrors since Burrow disclosed his diagnosis in December 2019. MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that attacks muscle-controlling nerves and leaves people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. There is no cure, and from diagnosis, 50 per cent die within two years, a third within 12 months. For Sinfield, there is no time to waste. He is driven by the bonds of friendship formed at the Rhinos when he was 14 and Burrow was 12, strengthened as they became club legends and won it all, forever forged now through tragedy and adversity.

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Sinfield does not only represent Burrow, wearing his “7” jersey as he runs, but a whole community. He has become a symbol of hope for the estimated 5,000 people who live with the disease in the UK and is as widely known now for his fundraising efforts than as a seven-time Super League-winning captain. Sinfield says he is stopped three times a day by someone telling him about a loved one they know who has MND or who has passed away. They tell him to keep running, too. “It’s shown me exactly why I’m here on this Earth and that’s to try and help,” he says. “I don’t think there’s any greater gift than providing hope for a community that needs our support and needs our love and need our respect.”

Sinfield admits it can be overwhelming. On the final day of his challenge last year, as Sinfield ran on the last of his reserves, he was drawn to a man at the side of the road who was in a wheelchair and on a breathing apparatus. The man had not been out of his house in two years because of MND but wanted to meet Sinfield, wanted to meet the man who was out running for him. Sinfield could not afford to stop for more than a few seconds and when he continued he needed a few moments to get back into his rhythm. He was visibly shaken. That was just one interaction. In the coming days there will be countless more.

“You take on a lot of people’s emotions,” Sinfield accepts. The 43-year-old is supported by the same team – he will run with mates David Spencer and Chris Stephenson for a fourth time – and in the evenings, after the day’s run, they talk about the people they have met along the way. “It can be emotional, it can be teary for us,” Sinfield says, “but actually we try and use that in the right way because it’s wonderful fuel for us.” In the endless miles, day after day, it vindicates what they are doing.

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Once again, it is Burrow who provides Sinfield with inspiration and perspective. “There are moments where I ask ‘why?’ a lot,” Sinfield says. “But me getting upset, or overwhelmed, [I think], actually, how can I use that in the best way to provide hope? Rob has handled it so courageously, as has the whole Burrow family. I’ve only ever seen Rob upset twice since diagnosis. If Rob is going to fight and show me what living looks like, well I’m going to be shoulder to shoulder with him and doing everything I can. Our team feels exactly the same.”

Burrow will be there to support Sinfield on the finish line, at The Mall in London. Over the week, Sinfield will also receive support from former Leicester and Gloucester lock Ed Slater, former Liverpool full-back Stephen Darby and former Ipswich and Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart, all of whom are living with MND. There will be particular poignancy in Edinburgh, however, with the absence of rugby union great Doddie Weir. The former Scotland international died last November, at the age of 52, after suffering from MND. His death came three days after Sinfield completed his third challenge, and a week after Weir had been there on the start line to see him away from Murrayfield.

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Weir brought hope to Burrow after his diagnosis, and represented the MND community with charm and character, and through his own inspirational fundraising efforts. It leaves a legacy that Sinfield will continue to honour but reinforces the urgency of the fight against MND. “Time is really, really important,” Sinfield says. The money will support efforts to find a cure and go towards improving people’s lives while they have MND, including efforts to build The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease in Leeds. “For us, we’re just going on a bit of a run with some mates, for a mate,” Sinfield says.

Until November, his focus had been on his role as defence coach with the England rugby union team. Sinfield was at the World Cup in France for two months, following a three-month training camp, as England reached the semi-finals. It means he has not been able to put in the same amount of training as previous years and Sinfield admits he is “underdone”. But it was only two days after returning from France that Sinfield was up and out before 5am for his training runs, hitting the quiet country lanes around his home in Saddleworth, focused on a new mission.

It excites him, but the training has been purposefully demanding to compensate for the unusual build-up, and Sinfield has forced himself to return to some “dark places” – though nothing can compare to what is coming and the reality of running seven consecutive marathons. Sinfield doesn’t need to be doing this, and he points out that there are many other ways he could be spending his time. But he can’t stop – not now.

“The easy choice would be to say no, we’re not going again,” Sinfield says. “The team and I don’t want to take the easy option. We want to give it everything we can. Because the people with MND don’t have a choice.”