Sir Kevin Sinfield choked back tears as he recalled how a gruelling charity run left him feeling "grumpy" before an emotional surprise from Rob Burrow's children, mum and Prince William. He praised the resilience of Burrow's children, Macy, 14, Maya, 10, and Jackson, 7, saying they should never have had to go through the devastation of the past few years as their father died from motor neurone disease.
Final moments of the 7 in 7 challenge
The rugby league legend recounted the emotional story of the final moments of his recent and last 7 in 7 ultra marathon challenge when he was surprised at the finish. He had been looking forward to nothing more than a hot bath after completing a demanding 54km run in miserable weather when he was told he would have to wait five minutes before reaching the finish.
Sinfield, who has raised £13m in extraordinary fundraising challenges in memory of Burrow, admitted he had become tired and grumpy as he approached the end of the effort at Wakefield Trinity's ground and wasn't happy about news of the delay. But the reason for the delay soon became clear when he walked onto the pitch and saw the main stand packed with people waiting to welcome him, led by the Burrow family.
Recalling the moment on the podcast
Recalling the moment on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, Sinfield said: "All I want to do is get in a hot bath, right. It's rained and it's not been a great day. I'm tired, a bit grumpy."
"You can almost see the finish line and I'm sort of thinking about the bath. - And then get a phone call saying 'you've gotta wait 5 minutes.' I'm like 'Wait 5 minutes, why? What's going on?' What's happened? Why are we waiting five minutes, we're gonna be late.'"
Sinfield explained that he had initially been confused when he arrived at the ground and found nobody outside to greet him, as would normally be the case. He said: "Well we turned up at the ground and, typically, there's normally a few people outside to greet us. There's nobody there: 'what is going on?'"
"Then the guy who plans all our routes, Tristan - he's a top guy - comes running out from pitchside and says - because we've all stopped looking round because I know where the changing rooms are and I go to have my bath - And he says 'you're in here!'"
The surprise reception
The former England captain then walked another 10 to 20 metres before turning onto the field and discovering the surprise reception. "And then I look up and I see - first of all, I saw Sally Nugent (BBC reporter) and then I saw Prince William and Princess Catherine," he said. "And then Rob's kids. And Rob's mum, sister."
Sinfield became emotional as he reflected on the significance of the welcome, pausing to compose himself and hold back tears. He said: "Just a really, really nice moment for a whole host of reasons."
"But up until turning that corner, walking on the grass, yeah, I was a little bit grumpy. Saying 'who's made us late here?' Well yeah, we had a decent excuse and it couldn't have been a better combination of people."
"Clearly the royalty are massively important, but for Rob's kids to be there, it was pretty special."
Paying tribute to Burrow's children
Burrow's daughter Macy described Sinfield as "a real-life super hero" in a documentary about him this week, with the rugby league legend paying tribute to the children's courage. "Macy actually ran part of the second challenge with us. It was our 24-hour run so I was really cooked and she's quick! She just wanted to go. The kids have been brilliant. It's been so tough for them. Children are so resilient but, nevertheless, it shouldn't have been that way for them. That's what we have got to try and change."
Burrow, the former Leeds Rhinos star, died in June 2024 aged 41 after living with motor neurone disease (MND), having been diagnosed with the condition in December 2019. Sinfield has since continued to honour his friend's memory through gruelling endurance challenges, raising money and awareness for MND and supporting those affected by the devastating disease. He received a knighthood for his efforts earlier this month.
