Ex-Premier League goal machine with MND says Kevin Sinfield’s ultramarathons give ‘hope’

Marcus Stewart, who banged in Premier League goals for Ipswich, says Kevin Sinfield’s ultramarathons give him hope that a cure will be found for MND

A former Premier League goal machine has admitted Kevin Sinfield’s ultramarathon efforts have given him “hope” a cure can be found for his disease.

Sinfield, 45, will run seven ultramarathons in seven days across seven cities and regions, starting in Bury St Edmunds and heading to Ipswich in Suffolk, to raise money to try and help those that have been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).

The Rugby League legend lost his close friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow, who passed away last June, to the disease. MND is a neurodegenerative disease where messages from the brain and spinal cord stop reaching the muscles.

Marcus Stewart, 53, was a Prem star for Ipswich in the early 2000s. His goals firing them to the top flight, before he netted 19 times during the 2000/2001 season as the Tractor Boys finished fifth in England’s top tier and qualified for Europe. He was the second top goalscorer that season, behind only Chelsea’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and the division’s highest English goalscorer.

However, after retiring from playing in 2011 and going on to coach for the likes of Exeter City, Bristol Rovers, Walsall and Yeovil Town, in 2022, he was diagnosed with MND. Stewart has now admitted Sinfield’s work gives him “hope” that money would “go towards a treatment or a cure eventually”.

Each of Sinfield’s seven ultramarathons will be dedicated to someone battling the disease, with the first in honour of the former Premier League striker.

Sinfield told the BBC: “Ipswich was important to us with Stewart, but also we know there is a big rugby community in Bury St Edmunds.”

While Stewart added: “I often think who is going to take over the reins after these people leave a legacy once they finish all of their challenges, and I am hoping someone will take over the baton.

“For Kev to do a challenge so close to Christmas and people still put money in is beyond belief, really, because of the time of year.”

Sinfield’s run started on Monday morning from The Haberden ground, home of Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club and he’s due to finish at Portman Road, Ipswich, where he will meet Stewart, before 3pm.

Linsey Burrow, Rob’s widow, has backed the Daily Star’s campaign to get Kevin Sinfield a knighthood ahead of his latest fundraising effort.

She said his “extraordinary” fundraising was bringing a motor neurone disease cure “closer every day”.