Kevin Sinfield is preparing for his latest incredible challenge and feels it will be the ‘toughest one yet’ both physically and without the support of friend and inspiration Rob Burrow.
The 44-year-old is running seven ultramarathons in seven cities over seven days in his Running Home for Christmas – 7 in 7 in 7 Challenge.
It is the rugby star’s fifth annual challenge as he continues to raise money for motor neurone disease research.
Sinfield’s epic fundraising began due to his former Leeds Rhinos teammate Burrow being diagnosed with MND, but after his tragic death in June this year, the challenge starting on Sunday will be the first without Burrow rallying behind his great friend.
‘Rob has been a part of the first four and to not have him around this time is pretty tough,’ said Sinfield. ‘I won’t be getting his nightly text messages and I will miss his humour. I miss him every day. But clearly, he would want us to continue this fight and it is important we do.
‘We have lost a great man, but he wouldn’t want us to be dwelling on this. He’d want us to rip into this and have a smile on our face and try and do him justice, which is what he intend to do.
‘We will share a lot of stories about him, we will laugh about him and I have no doubt he will be with us in spirit. I will certainly think of him most steps of the way along this route.
‘This was only put together right at the start because we were doing a little run for our little mate. Things have changed since then but I will never go away from why it was set up.’
The ultramarathons are varying lengths from 50km to the longest at just over 60km on the second day.
Sinfield has done stunning things in his fundraising efforts so far, but he feels they are only getting more difficult.
‘My expectation is that it will be the toughest one yet,’ he said. ‘They don’t get any easier. There are some unknown problems with the stop and start and I am not getting any younger.
‘The training has been brutal. I run all year, but the last 11 weeks have been really, really difficult. They have needed to be because I can’t expect to turn up on the start line and just be able to run it.
‘People think at times that you are superhuman but that is far, far from what this is. I have got to work really hard.
‘I hate running. I was not a cross-country runner at school. I played a sport that was based around intervals and I am asthmatic. If you put all that together, it is not a great combination.
‘This is going to be a scrap. I will be nervous and worried about not completing.’
The challenge begins on Sunday in Liverpool and ends in Saddleworth on Saturday 7 December, taking in cities across the UK including Belfast, Glasgow and Bristol. You can donate here.
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