Rugby League and fundraising legend Kevin Sinfield CBE comes to Hull and the East Riding in his latest challenge on Thursday, 5 December.
Sinfield will run in memory of Rob Burrow, who passed away from MND in June this year. This will be Sinfield’s fifth annual challenge for the MND community having raised nearly £10 million in the first four events but this will be his first visit to Hull.
The day will start at 7am at Beverley Racecourse before Sinfield heads down through North Ferriby before heading East towards the MKM Stadium. On the day, the team will also remember former Hull FC player Adam Maher. Maher died at the age of 47 following a battle with motor neurone disease in 2020.
The Australian second-rower made 100 appearances for the Black and Whites between 2000 and 2003, scoring 25 tries. Maher was part of the first Hull team to play at the MKM Stadium in 2003, before retiring at the end of that season. The route takes Sinfield through Queen Victoria Square before finishing at Sewell Group Craven Park at around 1.30pm. Sinfield will wear a black and white running top for the first half of the day before swapping to a red and white top as he travels to East Hull.
This year’s challenge has the tagline of ‘Running home for Christmas’ as the seventh day will end in Sinfield’s home area of Saddleworth.
Sinfield will be raising money for six MND charities with the MND Association being the primary partner and will aid the association’s work in the region.
The week long challenge will start on Sunday, 1 December with Sinfield and the team covering over 50km per day, visiting seven regions across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Each day will be broken down into 7km blocks, the number 7 as always central to Sinfield’s challenge in recognition of his friend and former team mate Rob Burrow, who wore the number during his glittering career alongside Sinfield at Leeds Rhinos. The team will aim to complete each 7km within one hour before the next block must start on the hour, meaning the only rest the team will get between each leg is the time spare after they have completed the block.
Commenting on his new challenge, Sinfield said, “I have wanted to integrate Hull into our challenges for a couple of years but the opportunity has not be there so I am delighted to be able to come this year. Hull is a Rugby League mad city and Hull FC and Rovers fans gave so much support to Rob throughout his battle with MND. We have many friends in the city and this is definitely one of the days we are very much looking forward to in this year’s challenge.”
Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “We look forward to welcoming Kevin and his team into East Yorkshire and embarking on this incredible challenge. We hope people will support this fantastic cause in raising money for MND and continue to support Kevin with increasing awareness of this disease”.
Members of the public can sponsor Sinfield at https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield-and-teams-fundraising or by texting Kevin10 to 70143 to donate £10. For more details of the entire route for the 2024 challenge visit www.therhinos.co.uk/the-club/sinfield-christmas-2024
