30 November 2023 , 22:56
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Kevin Sinfield's fear of failure is pushing him on as he embarks on another titanic challenge to raise funds and awareness of Motor Neurone Disease.
The Rugby League icon is set to run seven ultra marathons over seven cities across the UK in just as many days. He kicks off his latest challenge in Leeds on Friday and is aiming to add to the nearly £10m that he has also raised for MND.
Sinfield will be putting his life on the line to tackle the feat. Ahead of getting underway, he has admitted that he is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.
Speaking to the Daily Star, he said: "I accept that [putting his own life at risk]. That is my big concern when embarking on these challenges - not being able to finish. Snapping something, or hurting something. I'm not bothered about the pain or having to run hurt or injured.
"It's more the fear of snapping an Achilles, or doing an ACL, something like that. That's the biggest worry. There's a lot of work gone on behind the scenes, pulling all this together. Three or four people have driven it this year. I'm competing against myself and my body. Trying to use that push and drive to raise money and awareness for people."
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While his latest challenge will get underway in Leeds, he then takes in stops in Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton before concluding in London. His fundraising journey began in 2020 in support of his former Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow, who suffers from Motor Neurone Disease.
He ran seven marathons in seven days that year, before running 101 miles in under 24 hours the following year - a challenge that kicked off at Leicester Tigers' Welford Road and concluded at Headingly. Sinfield’s ‘7 in 7’ last year saw him finish on the pitch at half-time in the men’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking about why he has chosen to take on yet another challenge, he said: “Whilst my knees keep going, I will continue to do my bit and even then, when my knees won’t work like they should, we will find different ways of trying to raise money and awareness.
“We have been part of something that has been pretty powerful over the last couple of years and we are massive humbled by it. Last time we thought we shouldn’t go again, (but) on average three times a day people will stop me and tell me somebody they know has MND or someone has passed with MND, and they want us to keep going.
“The plan was to do three, but we haven’t got a cure, and we feel we can make a better impact on people’s lives who have MND, so why would we stop?”