No sign of an end to Sinfield's MND fundraising crusade after Cork leg
Kevin Sinfield and Donncha O’Callaghan together at Páirc Uí Chaoimh following Kevin’s completion of the Cork leg of his Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge, held to raise funds and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease and chosen for Cork’s strong connection to the cause. Pic: Chani Anderson
The fundraising effort clicked past £500,000 (€568,373) on Tuesday evening as Kevin Sinfield and his team of ultra marathoners left Cork bound for Day 3 of their annual 7 in 7 Together challenge in support of Motor Neurone Disease charities.
The former Leeds and Great Britain rugby league star, currently an assistant rugby union coach with England, had earlier trotted into Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh after finding inspiration on Leeside that will fuel his aching limbs in Swansea on Wednesday as he returns to the UK bound for a final leg into Leeds Rhinos’ home stadium at Headingley.
Sinfield, 45, has been running to raise funds for a week every year since his friend and former team-mate Rob Burrow, who wore the number seven, was diagnosed with MND, a muscle-wasting condition for which there is no cure.
Burrow passed away in 2024 at the age of 41 but having raised more than £10 million (€11.366m) in his previous five 7 in 7s, there was no sign of Sinfield giving up his fundraising crusade and the additional financial boost from two days on the road in East England’s Bury St Edmonds and now Cork is proof of why.
Sinfield spoke to the in a Páirc Uí Chaoimh dressing room after completing his Cork run in the company of former Munster and Ireland star Donncha O’Callaghan, and during his post-marathon rub down from fellow runner and former Munster physio Dave O’Sullivan.
“The next couple of hours are about recovering and getting ourselves back together, and then sharing each other's company,” Sinfield said.
“A part of sharing each other's company is to reflect on the day we've had, and there's always something that has happened today with everybody that has touched them in a certain way, and that gives you energy and drive to rip into tomorrow and run as hard as we can; and for everybody to do the best job they can and continue trying to bring people together, which is what we have to do to fight this disease.
“We've seen the power of it over the last five years, that by pulling people together, we can raise a lot of money. And so many other people are doing charity challenges and bits and pieces, and the combination of all those amounts of money will ensure we find a cure.”
Following similar marathons in Belfast and Dublin in the last two years, Sinfield’s arrival in Cork was in part to honour the memory of former RL player and Munster head of strength and conditioning Paul Darbyshire, who passed away from MND in 2011.
Yet Sinfield stressed the importance of running for a much wider community with the Irish MND Association among the beneficiaries which divides the raised funds between offering affected families much-needed support and the scientific search for a cure.
“It's been a big part of the work right from the start because we saw it first hand with Rob and the family and the lack of support and funding.
"And in many ways, Rob having been in professional sport meant he had a support network, he had a loving family, but for somebody who lives on their own or somebody who's a little bit older and the kids don't live with them at all, everybody's family circumstances are different and we've got to help people.
“Everybody's important, regardless of situation or family circumstances, everyone's important and we've got to do more and that's why 50 per cent of the funding we raise through the running goes towards that type of thing, and 50 per cent goes to helping families who are currently living with the challenges that MND brings.”
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