This was the beautiful moment Kevin Sinfield lifted best friend Rob Burrow from his wheelchair and carried him over the finishing line of the Leeds Marathon after pushing him for the entirety of the 26.2 miles.
The remarkable moment was greeted by huge cheers from the crowd as Sinfield held Burrow and kissed him as he made his final steps over the line.
Ahead of the race, England rugby union defence coach Sinfield had said: "I ran the London Marathon three weeks ago and everyone wants to know what your time was but this, it doesn’t matter how long it takes. The longer it takes, the more time I get to spend with him so I’m really looking forward to it."
Sunday's inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon was as much "a celebration of friendship" as it was a vital charity fundraiser.
Former England, Great Britain and Leeds Rhinos player Burrow was first diagnosed with the disease in 2019 and since then, his life has changed dramatically. He currently lives at home with wife Lindsey and three children and communicates using a computer voice system.
Sinfield has raised over £8million for motor neurone disease charities since friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Burrow was diagnosed with the condition.
Sunday's event, plus the Leeds Half Marathon which also took place on Sunday, was held by Leeds City Council in partnership with Jane Tomlinson's Run For All charity and has already surpassed the £1m mark.
Sinfield told the PA news agency: "To raise money for the MND Association and the Leeds Hospitals Charity is really important, but this is also about a celebration of friendship.
"We get the chance to do it together with 12,500 people and hopefully people will come out and see us and say hello out on the streets supporting. I think it's a wonderful thing for Leeds.
"The Council have been fantastic, Run For All have been brilliant and I'm sure it will be an incredible day on Sunday."
Event organisers have been inspired to stage the city's first marathon in 20 years by Sinfield's previous running challenges.
The 42-year-old, who will be pushing Burrow around Sunday's course in a specially-adapted wheelchair, completed his Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge in November when he ran seven back-to-back ultra-marathons, running around 40 miles each day.
In late 2020, Sinfield ran seven marathons in seven days and in 2021 he completed a run of 101 miles in 24 hours.
Burrow's wife Lindsey also took part in her first full marathon, despite carrying a knee injury.
