Former Leeds Rhinos captain and rugby legend Kevin Sinfield is taking part in an ultra marathon to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease awareness. Kevin's close friend and teammate Rob Burrow revealed he was diagnosed with MND in December 2019.
Kevin has taken on the challenge of running seven ultra marathons in seven days with the plan to raise £777,777 inspired by Rob and his playing number, seven. Sinfield is running from Edinburgh to Manchester via Melrose, Newcastle, Middlesborough, York, Leeds and Bradford.
He reached York earlier today (November 17) and was greeted by cheering crowds. Currently, Sinfield has to run more than 60km per day to reach his target.
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He began on November 13 and is aiming to reach Old Trafford for the halftime whistle at the Rugby League World Cup men's final on Saturday, November 19.
A tweet from the official Leeds Rhinos twitter page showed cheering crowds in York, huddled together in the rain to watch Sinfield arrive for the first time in North Yorkshire.
It was captioned: "Thank you York, simply incredible"
"On his fundraiser, Kevin said: "This is taking the word challenge to the next level – but it still doesn’t even touch on the challenge which people with MND face every day.
"And that’s why I’m doing it. Inspired by Rob Burrow, Doddie Weir, Stephen Darby and other people living with MND, the money raised will support the fight against MND.
"I’m proud to be supporting five charities with this challenge, charities which support people affected by MND and invest in research taking us closer to effective treatments and a cure for the disease.
"The MND Association will receive 41% of the money raised to be spent on research projects to take us closer to a world free from MND."
Leeds Hospitals Charity will get 41% of the money raised to build a flagship centre for care, through their Rob Burrow Centre for MND Appeal.
In an update, he said: "We’ve made it to North Yorkshire which means we’re over halfway. We know times are really, really tough for people at the moment with cost-of-living so seeing people putting donations in the collection buckets is unbelievable.
"We’ve loved it so far but it’s tough, and we’re all a bit battered, bruised and sore. The reason why we’re doing this is because we want to raise awareness about what this disease is doing to families across the UK and the rest of the world. We have got to try and change it. We have got to carry on trying to do our little bit."
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