Between the 1st and the 7th of December, Leeds Rhino’s legend Kevin Sinfield will run seven ultra marathons in support of MND charities. Not, you could be forgiven for thinking seven “local” ultra marathons, no runs that will take place in East Anglia, Cork, Swansea, Sheffield, Cumbria, Dundee and then finally Leeds.
The final leg, the Leeds leg is of particular interest to us . And that’s because on Sunday the 7th Kevin and his support team will not only be passing right by us, but as Moortown Baptist Church has been officually designated Checkpoint 5 they will actually be calling in. Admittedly it won’t be for a long visit, perhaps little more than a comfort break, but nevertheless as we are the penultimate stop on the week long slog to the finish line it will be our pleasure to welcome both them and you in to church.
Now by the standards of those of us who struggle to run for a bus taking on 7 in 7: Together is nothing short of super human. But that’s precisely what Kevin does! And as I’ve said, once again he’s doing it to raise funds for MND charities: The MND Association being the main beneficiary along with donations to Leeds Hospitals Charity’s support for the Rob Burrow Centre, Irish MND Association, Darby Rimmer Foundation, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and MND Scotland.
Kevin’s association with MND is of course well known, not only through the vast amount of money that he and his supporters have raised alongside former Rhino’s teamate and MND sufferer Rob Burrow who sadly died as a result of this terrible disease in 2024, but also the fact that Kevin and Rob’s widow Lindsey plus their three children were at Seacroft Hospital earlier this month when the first specialist MND centre in the UK was opened by the Prince of Wales.
The official 7 in 7: together timetable shows them due at MBC, give or take, somewhere around 1.15pm. However, with such a wonderful “community” event happening quite literally on our doorstep we though we would take the opportunity of inviting anyone and everyone to join us between 12.45pm and 2.45pm for a pre Christmas get together that will include tea, coffee and festive refreshments, plus craft for the kids and entertainment from both a contemporary dance group and a saxaphone quartet.
You yourself can donate to the cause by following this link https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield-7-in-7-together-challenge but if you want more details of Kevin and his teams itinery you can find that out here https://www.therhinos.co.uk/the-club/sinfield-together-202
One piece of late news that has just reached us is that as Nathan Dring’s consultancy business is now part of Kevin’s list of sponsors, he and Shelley have both been invited to join the 7 in 7: Together athletes plus more than two thousand runners who have already signed up for the Extra Mile Santa Dash. This starts at 2pm and runs between the Leeds Beckett University sports centre and AMT Headingley Stadium.
All in all December 7th not only sounds like A great day, it also sounds like THE perfect way to launch the countdown to MBC’s Community Christmas programme.