Kevin Sinfield has completed day one of his Ultra 7 in 7 challenge in aid of Motor Neurone Disease after running 40 miles from Murrayfield to Melrose rugby club in the Scottish Borders.

Sinfield, 42, plans to run a similar distance for seven consecutive days en route to Old Trafford in Manchester in a bid to raise £777,777 for five MND charities.

The former Leeds Rhinos captain has been inspired by close friend and ex-team-mate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with MND in late 2019, plus former Scotland rugby player Doddie Weir and ex-Bradford City skipper Stephen Darby, who also live with the disease.

By 4pm on Sunday afternoon, Sinfield had raised £246,181.85, according to his Give as you Live donation website.

Sinfield is scheduled to finish his Ultra 7 in 7 challenge next Saturday on the Old Trafford pitch at half-time during the men’s Rugby League World Cup final between Australia and Samoa.

On Monday (day two), Sinfield will run from Melrose to Otterburn Castle near Newcastle, with the following stages taking him to Middlesbrough, York, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.

His latest fundraising challenge will mainly benefit the MND Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity’s appeal to build the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds.

There will also be donations to MND Scotland, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation and the 4ED campaign, in support of former Gloucester and Leicester rugby player Ed Slater, who was recently diagnosed with the disease.

In late 2020, Sinfield raised £2.7million for MND charities after running seven marathons in seven days and a further sum in excess of £1m was generated in November 2021 after he completed a run of 101 miles in 24 hours.