Former rugby league star Kevin Sinfield will run 31 miles across England and Ireland every day for a week aiming to raise £777,777 for MND research
Kevin Sinfield taking part in the Extra Mile event at the Etihad Campus in Manchester(Image: PA)
Ironman Kevin Sinfield will start his new ultra-marathon challenge on Monday – as Britain’s youngest person with Motor Neurone Disease sadly died.
The former rugby league star will run 31 miles across England and Ireland every day for a week aiming to raise £777,777 for MND research. He was inspired by, and continues to run in memory of, his former Leeds team mate, Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed in 2019 and died, aged 41 in June last year.
His challenge comes after the family of 14-year-old Kyle Sieniawski announced he had sadly passed away, less than a year after being diagnosed with the rare degenerative condition which normally affects adults over 50.
READ MORE: England rugby legend Lewis Moody shares health update after MND diagnosisREAD MORE: Kevin Sinfield says memories of Rob Burrow will drive him on tough 217-mile run
Kevin Sinfield(Image: Getty Images)
Kyle’s family, from Pontypridd, South Wales, described him as a “beautiful boy” adding: “We’re absolutely heartbroken to announce that our little superhero has very sadly lost his battle with MND.
“Kyle fought with everything he had but in the end it all became too much for him and he very sadly passed away yesterday evening.”
Each day of Sinfield’s challenge will honour a local personality who has championed the cause, and, as in previous challenges, includes an extra-mile event when Sinfield joins members of the MND community.
Speaking ahead of the 7 in 7 challenge, he said: “For families to share in those moments, when they’ve spent so much time alone, has been great.
“They share in walking, running – being pushed, sometimes – over the course of a mile, and that’s the best part of the day for us.
“We stop in different locations and people come out and see us, beep their horns, and come and bring their smiles; the support has been immense.”
Kyle Sieniawski with boxer Joe Calzaghe(Image: media Wales)
The first leg takes place in Suffolk on Monday and is in tribute to former Ipswich Town striker Marcus Stewart, who lives with the condition.
Stewart was diagnosed with MND in 2022 and has spoken about how the disease has “slowly taken my independence away”.
He has spearheaded fundraising events with former Liverpool and Bradford City footballer Stephen Darby, who also has MND.
Sinfield said: “We chose to finish at Ipswich Town in tribute to our good friend Marcus Stewart. I know how highly Marcus is thought of at Ipswich and it will be brilliant to see Marcus and his wife Lou at the finish line.”
On day one Sinfield and his support team will run from Bury St Edmunds to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road stadium. Over the coming week he will then head on to Cork, Swansea, Sheffield, Cumbria and Dundee before finally arriving in Leeds on December 7.
The 45-year-old played his entire professional career with Leeds Rhinos and is one of the most successful players in Super League history. His final game was 10 years ago and he is now a coach of the England rugby union team.
Sinfield has completed five previous seven-in-seven marathon challenges raising more than £10m for research into MND, a neurodegenerative condition where messages from the brain and spinal cord stop reaching the muscles, and for which there is no cure.
Rob Burrow’s number seven shirt has played a significant role in each challenge with a fundraising target of £777,000.
The money will be split between the MND Association, the Leeds Hospital Charity, Irish MND Association, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, MND Scotland and the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
Mike Rogers, a director of research innovation at the MND Association said: “During the week of Kevin’s challenge alone, another 42 will hear the words, ‘You have MND’. Hearing those words is devastating – we don’t yet have effective treatments for most people living with MND – but with the money raised from Kevin’s challenges we are getting closer.
“Every single day of this extraordinary challenge counts and every mile matters.”
Money raised from the previous five challenges have helped the charity give out more financial support grants and start a network that allowed people with MND to take part in important clinical trials.