The Prince of Wales has described former rugby league star Kevin Sinfield’s latest fundraising challenge for MND as a “fitting tribute” to his ex-Leeds teammate Rob Burrow.
William posted a selfie-style video on social media to wish Sinfield the “very best of luck” for his “gruelling” feat called Running Home for Christmas, which begins on Sunday – jogging more than 50 kilometres (31 miles) a day for a week.
Burrow died in June after a long battle against motor neurone disease (MND) but continues to inspire Sinfield, who has completed four annual challenges to raise awareness and millions in support of the MND community, since his friend was first diagnosed.
Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow campaigned to raise millions of pounds and raise awareness of MND (Danny Lawson/PA)
William said in his video message recorded at Windsor: “Kevin – Catherine and I just wanted to wish you the very best of luck for what’s going to be a very gruelling week, raising money and awareness around MND.
“What you and Rob have achieved has been incredible and it’s a very fitting tribute to his legacy, what you’re achieving again this week. I’m sure you’ll be running with him in your mind the whole way round.”
The prince, who surprised Burrow and Sinfield by presenting them with their CBEs for services to MND awareness in January, added: “So the very best of luck from Catherine and I. We’ll be thinking of you all week.”
Sinfield, 44, has helped raise in excess of £16 million in aid of MND since Burrow was diagnosed in December 2019.
Burrow was diagnosed with MND barely two years after ending his stellar playing career, but refused to give up the fight and threw himself into a campaign to raise awareness of the condition and help raise funds to find a cure.
His friend will run more than 50km per day, split into seven kilometre blocks that he must complete within the hour before starting the next block.
Each day will also include an Extra Mile event when Sinfield will join members of the MND community in completing four laps of a running track.
The week-long challenge will take him from Liverpool to Manchester via Wrexham, Gloucester, Belfast, Glasgow, Hull and Northampton.
Speaking ahead of the challenge a few days ago, Sinfield said: “I don’t want this to be sad. We’ve lost a great man, but he’ll want us to rip into this and have a smile on our face and do it justice, do him justice.”