Kevin Sinfield Begins New 7 in 7 Challenge For MND

Kevin Sinfield is Running Home For Christmas in his latest 7 in 7 challenge to raise money for the MND Association. 

This is Sinfield’s fifth fundraiser and will involve running seven ultramarathons in seven UK regions in seven days, ending at his home in Saddleworth.

Each day is split into 7km blocks, beginning them on the hour and leaving him the minutes remaining in each hour to meet with members of the MND community. Sinfield and his support team will run over 50km each day through the challenge, and will complete over 230 miles in total. 

Sinfield, who played rugby league for Leeds Rhinos and England and is currently the kicking coach for the England rugby union team, took on his first challenge in 2020 when he ran seven marathons in seven days to raise money for his former teammate Rob Burrow who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

He has since run a new challenge each year, and they always revolve around the number seven, which represents Burrow’s number when he played rugby. In 2021, Sinfield ran 7km every hour for 24 hours, to complete a 101-mile run. In 2022 and 2023, he ran seven ultramarathons in seven days in seven cities. The 2024 challenge takes elements of previous runs by combining 7km every hour with ultramarathons in different cities, with the added difficulty of running in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Burrow died in June 2024 at the age of 41, and this is Sinfield’s first challenge since his death. So far, Sinfield’s challenges, and events like the Rob Burrow Marathon and others in Burrow’s name, have raised over £16m for MND charities.

The fundraising for 2024’s challenge is going towards six different charities: The MND Association, Leeds Hospitals Charity who are building the Rob Burrow Centre for MND, plus Irish MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, MND Scotland and The Darby Rimmer Foundation.

Sinfield told media that the training for this challenge had been “brutal” and that it’s “going to be a scrap”. He thinks this will be the toughest challenge yet, but his previous experiences have given him an idea of what to expect. This year will also be harder because Rob won’t be there to cheer them on, but his number seven and his memory will be there throughout this epic challenge. 

The schedule for Sinfield’s run is:
Sunday 1 December: Liverpool to Wrexham
Monday 2 December: Gloucester to Bristol 
Tuesday 3 December: Belfast 
Wednesday 4 December: Glasgow 
Thursday 5 December: Beverley to Hull 
Friday 6 December: Northampton to Leicester 
Saturday 7 December: Old Trafford to Saddleworth 

You can donate to Kev’s Running Home For Christmas challenge here. Or you can sign up to do your own 7 in 7 Challenge. 

Image from MND Association