Kevin Sinfield ready to help Rob Burrow around Leeds marathon course
KEVIN Sinfield and Rob Burrow are used to achieving greatness in Leeds wearing the numbers 13 and seven - today, though, will be different.
They will not have just 15 people backing them up, they will be in a team of 12,500.
Legendary Rhinos skipper Sinfield will once again wear 13 as he pushes his pal, with his trademark seven on, along the course of the inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon.
And just like the challenges that saw him raise £7.5 million as his former team-mate lives with motor neurone disease, it will be running with a mate for a mate.
Only this group of mates will be rather larger, and one that has raised more than £1 million already.
Sinfield said: “There’ll be 12,500 people running, hopefully 100,000 lining the streets.
“Even if it was just Rob and I, we’d have a great time - there’s no better way to do it than with your mate. The fact people want to share in it and do their own little bit is incredible.
“This will be with mates, for mates and alongside mates, absolutely. Look across the world at big cities where marathons are run, there’s nothing like this.
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“And the fact 12,500 people are taking part shows the affection Leeds has for Rob. We couldn’t have dreamed of getting this number.
“I’m looking forward to running with Rob and spending some time together – I’ll be 13, Rob’s got seven and his wife Lindsey’s got number one.
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“We’ve not done any training. We ran a 10k together last July and that’s part of the challenge, doing something neither of us have done before. The unknown adds to the fun of it.
“He’s in a custom-made chair but it could be a bumpy ride. I’ll try and find him the safest, comfiest route but if there are hills, there are hills. If it rains, it rains.”
Sinfield's feats – seven marathons in seven days, a 101-mile continuous run in 24 hours and seven ultra marathons in seven days, from Murrayfield to Old Trafford - have been inspiring enough and he is a figurehead of the MND community.
Work as England RU defence coach may occupy many thoughts ahead of this year's World Cup but he still receives messages from people and families living with the condition.
He will be alongside other inspiring stories, like former triathlete Sam Perkins, of Leicestershire, who is being pushed to raise funds and awareness for
Sinfield added: “For every 10 nice ones, you get a sad one as well. That just reinforces how much we’ve got to keep banging the drum, keep going and keep trying to shift the dial on it.
“It’s brought that MND community together, Wider than that, it’s brought communities together in that we can all do a little bit to help. That’s been a driving force for today.
“Every penny counts and every bit of awareness is important. My job’s to keep raising as much money as I can so the great minds in science and research can try to find a cure.
“The work Doddie Weir did made a huge difference. Teams are working together, that’s what this is about. We get to run as a 12,500 team and keep banging that drum.”
Sinfield and Burrow will be joined by several former team-mates and familiar faces as they take on the 'hilly' course.
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But the 42-year-old hopes this is the first of a growing event, which is already booked in for next year.
He told SunSport: “We hope this will be something that becomes part of the running calendar across the UK and as long as I can run, I’ll be doing it.”