Fenland athlete takes inspiration from Kevin Sinfield's "Running Home For Christmas" challenge to raise money for motor neurone disease

Three Counties Running Club member Phil Newton continued his fundraising for Motor Neurone Disease with a tiring seven-day half-marathon streak.

After completing the Leeds Marathon with his wife Vicki back in 2023, Newton decided he wanted to do more and push himself further.

Newton found his inspiration by following Kevin Sinfield’s challenges following the sad death of Sinfield's Leeds Rhinos former teammate Rob Burrow, who lost his battle with MND earlier this year.

Kevin Sinfield's "Running Home For Christmas" challenge this year was to run seven half marathons in seven days between Friday, November 29, to Thursday, December 5.

Newton planned out his seven half marathon routes and was supported by his wife and members of Three Counties Running Club along the way.

MND heard about the amazing efforts that Newton had put into raising the money for the association so they invited him along to their HQ in Northampton to meet Sinfield and the team as they set off for their final leg of the challenge.

The icing on the cake was that Phil got to run the extra mile with Kevin and his team in Leicester.

Newton said: "It has been a tough but amazing challenge, and I want to thank everyone for their kind words, donations and for joining me on my runs.

"It was an honour to meet and run with Kevin who has inspired me throughout my MND journey.”

He has raised more than £5000 for the charity so far and everyone at Three Counties is very proud of him.