Charlie Bird will join top England rugby coach Kevin Sinfield for the final stage of an ultra-marathon in Dublin to raise awareness and funds for motor neurone disease sufferers.
The 7 in 7 in 7 event - the fourth of seven ultra marathons undertaken by Sinfield and his team in seven days - will take place on December 5.
The decision to include Dublin as part of the challenge for the first time was inspired by former Munster coach Paul Darbyshire, who played Rugby League with Warrington and passed away from MND in 2011 when he was just 41.
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This is the first time the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) will be involved.
Covering a distance of almost 44km, Sinfield will set off from Croke Park on his personal challenge at 12 noon with his route taking him through parts of Phibsborough, Ashtown, the Phoenix Park, Inchicore, Crumin, Rathgar, UCD and finishing at the Aviva Stadium at around 4pm.
Charlie Bird, who has raised millions of euros since his own MND diagnosis, will join the marathon at UCD - at a stage called the Extra Mile, which sees invited guests join Sinfield for one mile towards the end of the marathon.
The former RTE star will continue on to the end of the route with Sinfield, with the support of several Irish sporting stars.
The 74-year-old, who recently received a special award from An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for Climb with Charlie added: “It is a privilege to join in the Extra Mile with Kevin and his team.
"It is such an incredible task he is undertaking and I wanted to extend the hand of friendship and support in any way I can.
"What Kevin has done for the MND community in the UK is astonishing, and I look forward to joining him on 5th of December for what is sure to be a wonderful occasion.”
Since 2020, Sinfield and his team have raised over close to €9.2m with three endurance events that have captured the public’s imagination having been inspired by Sinfield’s former Leeds Rhinos team mate Rob Burrow MBE.
“I am very happy to hear Charlie will be joining me in Dublin for the Extra Mile through to the end of the race," said Sinfield, a Rugby League legend who most recently was defence coach for England at the Rugby World Cup in France.
"It means a lot to get his support and I was so inspired by everything he has done for the MND community in Ireland with the Climb with Charlie campaign.
"I know that former Antrim GAA captain Anto Finnegan also did so much to raise awareness for the MND community and I am delighted that his family hope to join us at the start line at Croke Park.
“Physically this will be my toughest challenge as I have not been able to do the amount of training that I have done previously because of my commitments for the World Cup and we have set an ambitious time target to complete each ultra so people know that we will be pushing ourselves to the limit.
"I am looking forward to it and seeing all the support out on the streets once again.
"For the MND community, every second counts and we will be making the most of every step on this challenge to raise awareness, funds and support for that community.
"I would especially like to thank all the local authorities and councils who have given us their support, it means so much to everyone."
Lillian McGovern, the CEO of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, commented: “Both Charlie and Kevin’s unwavering commitment to raising awareness for MND is admirable and we are very thankful to be part of this incredible challenge.
"We look forward to joining Kevin and Charlie in Dublin on Tuesday 5th December to cheer them on.
"Any funds raised will help us improve our services and supports available to people living with MND in Ireland and their families.”
The team are inspired by MND sporting warriors Rob Burrow, Ed Slater, Marcus Stewart, Stephen Darby, the late Doddie Weir and the 5,000 other people living with MND, in the UK right now.
In Ireland there are more than 450 people living with MND. The initial target is to raise £777,777 (almost €900K) from the challenge. Supporters can show their support now at https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfield.
The 7 in 7 in 7 Challenge will support five charities which support and care for people affected by MND and their families, and invest in research in a bid for effective treatments and a cure for the disease.
The main beneficiaries will be the MND Association and the Leeds Hospitals Charity appeal to build the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds.
There will also be donations to the Irish Motor Neurone’s Disease Association (IMNDA), My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation plus support for the 4ED campaign to support former Gloucester and Leicester Rugby Union player Ed Slater.
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