Kevin Sinfield, the MND fundraiser and former Rugby League player, will return to Ireland on 2nd December after revealing the route around Cork for his second ultra marathon of seven that he will complete in seven days.
Sinfield has raised over £10 million with his five previous challenges for those impacted by Motor Neurone Disease, inspired by his friend and former team mate Rob Burrow. Included in the charities which benefit from Sinfield’s fundraising is the Irish MND Association.
Kevin is set to run seven ultra marathons in seven days across seven cities or regions. Again, this will include an Extra Mile event where members of the MND community will join Kev for one mile each day from 1st to 7th December 2025. Each day will be broken down into 7km blocks that Sinfield must complete inside the hour, before setting off on the next leg on the hour.
This year, Kevin and the team will visit new locations that could be overlooked by major events so the MND community in each know they are not forgotten. The name for this year’s challenge is 7 in 7: Together.
On the second day of this year’s challenge, Sinfield and his team will once again return to the Republic of Ireland having visited Dublin in 2023 when they were joined by the legendary RTE broadcast Charlie Bird before he passed away from MND in 2024.
The visit to Cork has particularly significance for Sinfield and his team. Former Rugby League player and coach Paul Darbyshire passed away from MND in 2011 when he was on the Munster coaching team and is still fondly remembered by the Munster players of that era. A key member of Sinfield’s support team is physiotherapist David O’Sullivan. O’ Sullivan’s friend Cathal Deasy was a native of Kilbrittain in West Cork and sadly passed away in November 2024 after a three-year battle with MND.
The public are asked to come out and support the challenge as it visits towns and villages but the public are not allowed to join the run for everyone’s safety and protection.
Commenting on the latest challenge Sinfield said, “Our visits across the Irish Sea have always been one of the highlights of challenges in the last two years. It was so special to be joined by Charlie Bird in Dublin in 2023 and we had tremendous support in Belfast last year, especially meeting the family of former Antrim GAA footballer Anto Finnegan. We have some special connections to the city in our team. We can’t wait to get to Cork on 2nd December.”
Following the completion of Day 2 at Cork, Sinfield will immediately head for the airport to fly to Swansea for the next leg the following day. The challenge continues throughout the week in Sheffield, Cumbria, Dundee and Yorkshire.
Donations can be made at https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield-7-in-7-together-challenge
