Kevin Sinfield is set to lead the fifth annual ‘7 in 7’ fundraiser in memory of his former teammate Rob Burrow, who passed away in June after battling Motor Neurone Disease
Kevin Sinfield is set to take part in his first fundraising challenge in support of those suffering with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) since his close friend and former teammate Rob Burrow passed away.
Sinfield and Burrow played together at Leeds Rhinos for 14 years and the pair completed a number of fundraising challenges after Burrow was diagnosed with MND in December 2019. He tragically died in June at the age of 41 and Sinfield is now set to embark on his first fundraiser without him.
The 44-year-old will be leading the fifth annual ‘7 in 7’ challenge in honour of Burrow, which will see him and his team run 50km per day broken down in 7km blocks. The aim is to complete each block with an hour before starting the next one.
The challenge will also include an ‘Extra Mile’ where members of the MND community will join Sinfield in completing their own mile. “This was only ever put together because we were doing a little run for our little mate and were trying to raise a little bit of money four years ago,” Sinfield said.
“I think of Rob a lot and I’ll certainly be thinking of him along the way, share a lot of stories about him, laugh and no doubt he’ll be with us in spirit. Rob’s been a part of the first four challenges. To have him not around this time is pretty tough.
“I won’t be getting his text messages on an evening. I’m not quite sure how I’ll be emotionally. I’ll probably find out when we’re in the thick of it and it’s pretty dark out there. It means a lot to me that we represent him and his family in the right way.
“He’ll make me smile I know that. I don’t want this to be sad. We’ve lost a great man, but he’ll want us to rip into this and have a smile on our face and do it justice, do him justice. They don’t get any easier, they just don’t.
“The training has been brutal. I hate running, I don’t even like running and I’m asthmatic, so if you put all that together it’s not a great combination.” Sinfield also hopes to do two more ‘7 in 7’ challenges “given this has all been built around the No 7”, which was Burrow’s shirt number at Leeds.
“My expectations are that it’ll be the toughest one yet but I have no doubt the team will have to draw on every ounce of support we get and use that in the right way to fuel us,” he added. “And right at the forefront of that will be the Burrow family and Rob.”
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