Kevin Sinfield joined more than 8,000 Santas as he set off on his latest fundraising challenge, described by the Prince of Wales as a “fitting tribute” to his ex-Leeds teammate Rob Burrow.
Sinfield, 44, said his fifth annual challenge, Running Home For Christmas, was part of a “legacy” for Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in December 2019 and died in June.
Speaking at the start line of Liverpool Santa Dash, he said: “We want to spread the love, we want to show people how much we care about them.
“We run in Rob’s name, we’ve got a number seven on our back and we want to keep that going.”
William posted a selfie-style video on social media to wish Sinfield the “very best of luck” for his “gruelling” feat.
In the video message, recorded at Windsor, he said: “Kevin – Catherine and I just wanted to wish you the very best of luck for what’s going to be a very gruelling week, raising money and awareness around MND.
“What you and Rob have achieved has been incredible and it’s a very fitting tribute to his legacy, what you’re achieving again this week.
“I’m sure you’ll be running with him in your mind the whole way round.”
The prince, who surprised Burrow and Sinfield by presenting them with their CBEs for services to MND awareness in January, added: “So the very best of luck from Catherine and I.
“We’ll be thinking of you all week.”
Sinfield has helped raise in excess of £16 million in aid of MND since Burrow’s diagnosis.
His latest challenge, planned before Burrow’s death, will see Sinfield run more than 50km a day, split into seven-kilometre blocks that he must complete within the hour before starting the next block.
Each day will also include an extra mile event when Sinfield will join members of the MND community in completing four laps of a running track.
The week-long challenge will take him from Liverpool to his home in Saddleworth via Wrexham, Gloucester, Belfast, Glasgow, Hull and Northampton.
He was joined by former Liverpool star John Barnes, ex-Everton player Peter Reid and Liverpool FC Women defender Gemma Bonner as he began the run.
For the first 5km he was with more than 8,000 runners who were dressed in Santa suits, available in red or blue depending on their preference of football team.
Sinfield said: “What a place to be.
“The numbers in Liverpool are big for MND so to be here, to be around 8,200 Santas, to have John Barnes and Peter Reid, to have Gemma Bonner here, I just think there’s a wonderful community feel around Liverpool today and it’s such an honour to be here.”
He is set to finish the day over the Welsh border in Wrexham.
He said: “It’s great to go into Wales, the support over there has been incredible as well.”
Despite early rain showers, the weather was dry as the runners set off and Sinfield said he was hoping it stayed that way.
He added: “We understand by doing this event in December that anything can come, so we’ll be ready for it.”
