Princess Anne has joked that running is not an activity she particularly enjoys, as she would rather "stick to horses", after Sir Kevin Sinfield invited her to join him on his final ultra-marathon challenge.
The former rugby league star is aiming to complete seven ultramarathons in seven days to raise awareness and funds for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). He has completed six of the so-called 7 in 7 challenges, where he runs 50km broken into 7km blocks over the course of a week.
Princess Anne's no-nonsense humour
The Princess Royal watched Sir Kevin complete the final laps of the morning's running block at the University of York Athletics Track on Monday. Chatting in the pavilion afterwards, conversation quickly turned to the weather, as bright sunshine accompanied his route.
Sir Kevin admitted he would prefer it to be "bouncing down". "People see it on the telly and think it's a fun run," he explained.
But Anne, who is known for her characteristic no-nonsense humour, replied: "Fun run is a contradiction in terms. I can run, but I don't do it for [fun], no I'm past that stage."
Invitation declined with a smile
"Well you are welcome to join us," Sir Kevin added. "No thank you!" said the princess, with a smile. "I will stick to horses."
Told the team had never had a horse accompany them, she looked thoughtful before replying: "That would be nice, perhaps a police horse or two."
Meeting charity staff and supporters
Anne, who is patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, also spent time meeting charity staff, carers, relatives and people joining Sir Kevin on the challenge, including former England rugby captain Lewis Moody, who was diagnosed with MND last year, and actor Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series.
