Sinfield a hero on a hard road

I HAD a chat with Kevin Sinfield on Wednesday night, just as he was getting on a bus out of Brighton after the sixth of his seven ultra-marathons in a week. His feet were in pieces. ‘I don’t normally blister but they are wrecked and swollen,’ he said, which was about right after doing 27 miles a day.

‘Day six is always the hardest,’ he added. ‘I had only four hours’ sleep last night with all the logistics and your calves are hurting, lower back is aching, and you know you have another day. I just take my mind to another place when I’m on that road — I’m always thinking of Rob.’ That being Rob Burrow, of course, his former team-mate and great friend who has motor neurone disease.

‘He would do it for me,’ said Sinfield and he truly is the best of us.

With his challenge finished in London on Friday, he had raised more than £800,000 for MND charities, to go with more than £8million from his previous challenges. There are procedural reasons why he cannot receive a knighthood before 2026 and there are almost nine million why he should get one sooner.