Kevin Sinfield Raises More Than £600K in Extra Mile Challenge
Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield has raised more than £600,000 during his attempt to run 101 miles in the space of 24 hours in aid of motor neurone disease research. Sinfield raised an incredible £2.7 million last year after completing seven marathons in seven days.
Sinfield set off from Welford Road, where he is a defensive coach for the Leicester Tigers, one of the favourites to win the Gallagher English Premiership with the best Canadian betting sites, and made his way to the Leeds Rhinos’ Headingley stadium. The arduous 101-mile journey was split into 7km sections, honouring the number seven short former teammate Rob Burrow wore for Great Britain. Sinfield had to complete the following 7km section within an hour of completing the previous one.
On Monday, the Rhinos Super League’s all-time leading scorer set off from Leicester Tigers‘ ground at 8:40 GMT and made it to Headingley, the stadium he graced for 18 years, with time to spare. Speaking to the BBC Breakfast Show, Sinfield revealed the epic run had taken its toll on his 41-year-old body.
“It’s been a real team effort from all the crew, and I wouldn’t have got it done without them. The support along the routes has been incredible right from the start. It was certainly a battle — we wanted a battle, and we certainly got one. I’m broken; I don’t know when I’ll be able to run again. Rob knows how much we love and care about him.”
Burrow Greets Sinfield at the Conclusion of His Epic Run
Sinfield’s former teammate and best friend Burrow was on the Headingley pitch to greet Sinfield at the end of his run. The pair enjoyed an emotional embrace.
Burrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019, a rare and debilitating condition that is currently incurable. It affects the cells which control voluntary muscles and results in the sufferer being unable to move and eventually unable to breathe for themselves. Burrow is now confined to a wheelchair and is only able to communicate through an eye-driven communication device.
The former scrum-half and hooker spent his entire career at Leeds. Despite being the smallest player in Super League, standing at only five-feet five inches, Burrow became one of the most successful players in the competition’s history. Burrow won eight Super League championships between 2001 and 2017.
Burrow turned out 493 times for the Rhinos, scoring 198 tries and a total of 1,111 points. The man from Pontefract won 15 caps for England and five caps for Great Britain during his glistening career.
Sinfield is a Rugby League Legend
Forty-one-year-old Sinfield is a Super League Legend. His usual position was loose forward, but he occasionally played as a hooker and stand-off. An incredible leader on and off the pitch, Sinfield played 521 games for Leeds between 1997 and 2015, scoring 86 tries. However, it was his almost unrivalled kicking ability that made him stand out from the crowd.
Sinfield kicked 1,792 goals and 39 field goals during his Rhinos career, helping take his points tally to 3,967 by the time he retired in 2015. He scored an additional 91 goals, and five tries in 26 games for England, and 15 goals and one try in 12 Great Britain appearances.
The superstar played 18 times for the Yorkshire Carnegie rugby union team before calling time on his fantastic playing career. Sinfield took up a coaching role with his beloved Rhinos in 2018 before becoming the team’s first-ever Director of Rugby. At the end of the 2021 season, he left the Rhinos to take up the role of defence coach for the Leicester Tigers.