Running with Kevin Sinfield: Friendship, community and inspiration in 189 miles

Kevin Sinfield’s remarkable seven ultra-marathons in seven days challenge to raise money for the MND community came to an emotional conclusion at Buckingham Palace. Jamie Braidwood was there to watch the finale of a feat that was about so much more than just running

Kevin Sinfield in Richmond Park on day seven of the 7 in 7 in 7 Challenge (PA Wire)

Kevin Sinfield stood on the steps outside Buckingham Palace and in the falling darkness he was a beacon of light for those who held onto his every word. As he spoke, drained and overcome after completing his seventh ultra-marathon in seven days for motor neurone disease charities, he found the words for the enormity of the achievement: “You all know why we’re here,” he began. “The MND community is a beautiful community and it needs all of us to keep fighting.”

In the name of his great friend Rob Burrow, Sinfield and his team have again fought from the front. Compelled to take action after his former Leeds Rhinos teammate was diagnosed with MND in 2019, Sinfield’s latest endurance challenge is set to take his fundraising efforts past £9m. Yet their story of friendship has become so much more. Sinfield is inspired by the heart and spirit of a community and their strength and resilience in the fight against a disease that has no cure. Now he is finished, he thinks about the “beautiful moments” and interactions that fuelled his journey. He thinks about the hope they have given him, that a world that can be so devastating and cruel be that little bit better.

Sinfield finished his 7-7-7 ultra-marathon challenge at Buckingham Palace (Getty Images)

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They had gathered in the cold earlier that afternoon, when the rain was yet to arrive and the leaves at Richmond Park in southwest London were still crisp on the ground. Sinfield, after finishing six marathons in six days in York, Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton, sets off from Twickenham – he has already run 162 miles with 27 miles still to go. He is expected to pass through this corner of London in the next 20 minutes. Baz and Helen Hathaway could not miss it. Baz has been living with MND for seven years but in that time the awareness of the disease has been transformed, in part because of the man they have come to see.

Baz has defied some of the statistics. Upon diagnosis of MND, 50 per cent die within two years, a third within 12 months. There are 5,000 people living with MND in the UK and, on average, six people die a day while six people are diagnosed. There is no cure and, when it comes to finding one, at times it feels like there is little to no progress. That changed through the courage of Burrow and, before him, the late former Socttish rugby union player Doddie Weir. Sinfield’s selfless fundraising efforts elevated not just their stories, but those of people like Baz and Helen as well. The most important thing, for them, is knowing there are millions who are now listening.

Now Baz and Helen want to say thank you as Sinfield passes through. They are not alone and a crowd of around a hundred, covered in the orange and blue of the MND charities, have joined to support Sinfield on the final stage of his epic. Everyone, in some way, has a connection to MND, such as Carmel, whose husband died just 14 weeks after his MND diagnosis in 2014. It is only now, almost a decade later, that some of Carmel’s close friends have realised what her husband went through. The difference was Burrow, Sinfield and what their friendship through adversity showed everyone else.

There is a crackle of excitement as it is announced that Sinfield is on his way. “He might not stop,” warns the volunteer in a bright orange MND vest over a megaphone. “He wants to stop, but it depends on how his body is feeling and what’s best for him.” Just seeing Sinfield would be enough for them, though. Many call him “Super Kev” or “Sir Kev”, a reference to the knighthood they feel is long overdue. “It’s beyond inspirational for us, the guy is a legend,” says Amanda, whose husband Les was diagnosed with MND two-and-a-half years ago.

There is a shout down the road – suddenly, Sinfield is here, arriving with his team of support runners and cyclists and a backdrop of 1980s rock music. The crowd parts as Sinfield is brought towards those he wants to meet. He stops and shakes hands with Baz and Les, thanking them for their support, though it is mutual and there is a particular light in Baz’s eyes once Sinfield arrives at the front. Sinfield is on the clock; he has set himself a target of completing each day in under four hours, but the moments here are invaluable and also give him the fuel for what he is attempting to accomplish.

Sinfield meets Baz and Les in Richmond Park (Matthew Power Photography)

Now, though, it is the extra mile and the chance to join Sinfield for part of the journey. “You can do this mile as fast or as slow as you want,” Sinfield declares to the crowd. “The fact is you’re here, you’re part of it, and we do it together.” For so long, the moments that would bring the MND community together would invariably be confined to loss or reminders of their condition. But there is something else here, they are there to celebrate Sinfield, to do this with him.

“Now,” he points, “that way.” And then Sinfield is off – opening up the legs and easing back into his stride. It is early in the seventh day of an arduous week but there is no hint of heaviness, no suggestion of fatigue despite the miles that have come before. Sinfield is joined at the front by the former England bowler Stuart Broad and Rugby World Cup winner Will Greenwood, yet his movement is just as fresh. Behind them, a screaming pack of schoolchildren, sprinting desperately to keep up, are gradually distanced: Sinfield, his goal in mind, ticks along at quite the pace.

Sinfield sets off alongside Stuart Broad and Will Greewood (Matthew Power Photography)

“I wasn’t expecting this,” remarks one support runner. “I thought he’d be out on his feet.” Sinfield, though, loves to defy expectations. Running is also his outlet to think and in the time since Burrow’s diagnosis he has done plenty of that. Sinfield only returned from England’s World Cup camp in late October and he admitted before his latest challenge that he was “undercooked”, given the lack of preparation time. As well as running at least 26 miles in each of the previous six days, there has been the travel between each of the seven cities, a logistical challenge hardly conducive to physical recovery.

Then there was the weather. On Saturday, there was the “horrendous” torrential rain in Birmingham, but that didn’t even compare to Edinburgh. “Gale force winds in your face, from all directions,” says Darrel Rogers, who is one of Sinfield’s three support cyclists, riding as part of the pack. Positioning himself in front of Sinfield and acting as a shield did not work, Rogers was almost blown off his bike but Sinfield pushed on and still, somehow, made it over the Forth Road Bridge and completed the day’s marathon in under four hours. “Every night, he’d joke that he won’t be up in the morning,” Rogers continues. Except he always would be: Sinfield doesn’t have to be doing this, but he feels he doesn’t have a choice given the MND community don’t have one, either.

Now, in southwest London, Sinfield can at least see the finish line in the distance – conditions are favourable for running, too, still cold, but at this point the rain has yet to arrive. Sinfield looks over his shoulder after dodging a muddy puddle by the side of the trail. “Great running everyone,” he shouts, though the numbers managing to keep up with his pace as he strides along is dropping further still. At the end, as an MND supporter tries to catch his breath, he beams as his smartwatch informs him that chasing after Sinfield has given him his fastest ever mile, such was Sinfield’s pace.

Baz and Les are among the next to finish a few minutes later, cheered across the line in their wheelchairs. Sinfield is gone – there are 22 miles still to go but when he needs the extra fuel for the final push, he will think of them.

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The rain arrived later in central London – puddles on the damp pavements reflecting the light of the streetlamps and lining the final stretch of Sinfield’s journey. At the end of the Mall, tourists huddle together under ponchos, gazing up at Buckingham Palace. Yet something else is happening today. The crowd has moved from Richmond Park and has been joined by dozens more. Others have tried to meet Sinfield at various points along the way, and managed to at Marble Arch and Tower Bridge.

There is a buzz behind the barriers and someone jokes that when Sinfield is finished he could just pop over to Buckingham Palace to receive his knighthood. “Saves a journey in January,” they laugh. There are whispers that Sinfield is on pace to go well under four hours for his final marathon of the week and someone tracking his progress excitedly works out that he’s just ran a 5km split through central London in under 20 minutes. There’s a tut and a smile: “That’s Super Kev,” they say.

Sinfield running on The Mall in central London (Getty Images)

Burrow was at the start line in Leeds but was unable to join Sinfield here – the reality of living with MND is there are those bad days. But the final stage comes as Sinfield’s campaign smashes its target of £777,777. The money is important and will go towards improving lives. But what is even more significant is the awareness Sinfield’s campaign creates each year. It puts pressure on the government, leading to the £50m announced last year to go towards research and a cure, and the attention continues to make sure it goes to the right place. It gives the MND community a voice.

And for that, they have lined the streets throughout the week, leading to the finish line. The moment he crosses it is a blur; Sinfield, surrounded by cheers and the flashing of cameras, buries his head in the shoulder of his support runner and mate Chris Stephenson. He emerges from the scrum, blinking, as the emotion begins to sink in. On the steps overlooking  Buckingham Palace, in the fading light, his message is clear and consistent: “This is so important,” he says. “We tried to push this morning how important the money is because that’s the thing that’s going to shift the dial for us. That’s the thing that’s going to get us a cure.”

Sinfield was overcome with emotion at the finish line (Getty Images)

The running over for now, Sinfiled attends to media duties (Getty Images)

Rogers stands at the back of the crowd, taking in a scene that could be Lionel Messi winning the World Cup. “It’s unbelievable what he’s done,” Rogers says. Above him, Sinfield takes the last of the questions, grimacing now, as he legs seize up and a bruise starts to form from colliding with a bollard on his dash through the city. A path is cleared through the crowd and Sinfield disappears towards the bus that doubled up as mission control throughout the week. He and his team will celebrate on the journey home, before they start to plan what to do next year.

:: To donate to Kevin Sinfield’s 7 in 7 in 7 quest, see https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield