Kevin Sinfield will pound the roads from Leeds to York on Friday, then run another marathon on Saturday, in Cardiff.
The rugby league great and England rugby union defence coach will run seven marathons plus one extra mile each day for the next week.
The 43-year-old will again be running in honour of best friend Rob Burrow, and to raise money for motor neurone disease research and treatment.
Sinfield set out to run only three challenges for Burrow and to raise funds to bolster the quest for an MND cure.
But as the Six Nations came to a close in March, he asked himself why he should stop – and could not find a compelling answer.
Sinfield has already raised over £7million, more than £2m of which will go towards building the Rob Burrow Centre For Motor Neurone Disease in Leeds.
The MND treatment complex still needs a further £1.9m for completion, and the disease afflicting Sinfield’s former Leeds half-back partner still has no cure.
“The plan was to do three challenges, but why would we stop?” said Sinfield. “We haven’t got a cure, we feel we can make a better impact on people’s lives who’ve got MND.
"The plan was to do three challenges, but why would we stop?"
“I’m in this now. There will come a point where I can’t run any more, which is fine, but I’ll find another way of banging the drum.
“On average three times a day someone will stop me and say they know someone with MND, or someone who has passed with MND. They want us to keep going.
“While all that is going on around us, while the money is ticking over, people are coming out in their pyjamas to see us running at the crack of dawn, people are giving their last five pound note. All of that is just fuel, emotion and energy for us, to try and do our best, and try to shift the dial on MND.”
Burrow had MND diagnosed in December 2019, and has taken to charity work with the same vigour as Doddie Weir.
The much-loved former Scotland lock died in November 2022, having suffered with MND since 2016 but also having raised more than £8m through his My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
An October 2022 study by Glasgow University found a group of former Test rugby players at more than 15 times greater risk of MND than the general population.
A fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, MND kills a third of sufferers within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis.
Rugby’s head injury epidemic has seen a group of 268 former players take to London’s High Court on Friday, suing World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU.
Burrow has refused to have any regrets on his rugby career or its repercussions, and Sinfield explained he has only ever seen the 41-year-old upset twice.
“A lot of my time with Rob, when I come away from seeing him, it can be quite overwhelming and you get a great deal of perspective,” said Sinfield.
“It hits pretty hard, there’s certainly moments when I ask why, and I’m sure there are a lot of members of the MND community that ask why.
“But the people I’ve met with MND are the best people in the world. They’re absolute champions.
“Getting upset and overwhelmed at times is natural, but then I ask how can I use that in the best possible way to try to help and provide hope.
“And Rob has handled it so courageously, as has the whole Burrow family. I’ve only ever seen Rob upset twice since his diagnosis.
“If Rob’s going to fight and show me what living looks like, well, I’m going to be shoulder to shoulder and doing everything I can.”
"If Rob’s going to fight and show me what living looks like, well, I’m going to be shoulder to shoulder and doing everything I can"
Sinfield helped England finish third at the Rugby World Cup in France across September and October.
He had no time for long runs, so was back at home in Saddleworth just two days before hitting the streets before daybreak.
From Leeds to York and Cardiff on day two, Sinfield and friends will then hit Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin, Brighton – and finally London, running from Twickenham to the Mall to finish on December 7.
“On the last day last year, we met a man in a chair on breathing apparatus who had not been out of his house for two years – and he came out to see us,” said Sinfield.
“We spend the evenings chatting through and talking through stories of people we’ve met. It can be a bit teary for us, but we try and use that in the right way.”
Supporters can text Kevin10 to 70143 to donate £10 or Kevin20 to the same number to donate £20, or give online at https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield
