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Kevin Sinfield: Leeds Rhinos legend raises £1m after completing 24-hour 101-mile MND run
Image source, PA Media
Rugby league legend Kevin Sinfield has completed a run of 101 miles in 24 hours in aid of motor neurone disease research and raised more than £1m.
He set off on Monday from Welford Road, where he is a Leicester Tigers coach.
The route ended at Headingley, home of rugby league club Leeds Rhinos, where he played for 18 years.
Sinfield raised £2.7m last year by running seven marathons in seven days and was a team-mate of Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with MND in 2019.
"It's been a real team effort from all the crew and I wouldn't have got it done without them," Sinfield told BBC Breakfast after finishing at Headingley.
"The support along the route has been incredible right from the start. It was certainly a battle - we wanted a battle and we certainly got one.
"I'm broken - I don't know when I'll be able to run again.
"Rob knows how much we love and care about him. For those really dark moments you have to think of Rob."
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The 41-year-old initially set a fundraising target of £100,000 for the Extra Mile Challenge, but he had already exceeded that total before he started the run at 08:40 GMT on Monday.
At the conclusion of the challenge, the total raised had soared to well over £500,000 and has continued to rise, with the fundraising site collecting donations crashing as Sinfield completed the feat.
His gruelling route from the East Midlands to West Yorkshire was split into 7km sections, with each one having to be completed within 60 minutes.
Sinfield, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June for fundraising and services to rugby league, was cheered on throughout the challenge and was greeted by hundreds of fans, as well as Burrow and his family, inside Headingley.
"Thanks so much to all involved with this amazing event. The money raised will help people to get great facilities for a new care centre and to help find a cure for MND," Burrow told BBC Breakfast.
"Today is a an amazing day for the whole community and will benefit every sufferer.
"Lastly, to my amazing friend Kev, you don't realise the impact you have had on me and the whole MND community."
MND affects the brain and nerves and eventually stops muscles functioning.
The government has pledged to put at least £50m into MND research over the next five years.
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