Thousands of runners turn out in Rob Burrow's memory
Thousands of runners have crossed the start line of the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon - the first to be held since the rugby league star's death.
Leeds Rhinos legend Burrow died last June aged 41 after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2019.
His wife Lindsey and best friend Kevin Sinfield were among those taking part to help raise money for MND.
Addressing the crowds, Sinfield said Burrow would be "looking down on us, proud as punch of what we have created here."
He said: "Today is about looking after each other. Today is about making sure we get to the finish line. Today is about running for our little mate Rob Burrow."
Crowds of runners set off at 09:00 BST for the third annual running of the event with the route passing through Woodhouse Moor, Adel, Bramhope, Pool in Wharfedale and Otley.
It was followed an hour later by runners taking part in the half marathon challenge.
Paul Green, from Doncaster, was one of thousands of people inspired by the Burrow family's story.
The 71-year-old said he was running his first half marathon in memory of his wife who died from MND in 2017.
"It has been eight years, but it is still hard," he said.
"I am running in memory of Joy. Hopefully she is approving of my lunacy doing it at this age."
As well as fundraising for the MND Association, Mr Green volunteers as a "befriender", helping to support people with the disease.
Mr Green, whose grandsons were running alongside him, said: "Hopefully together, we will get there and we will do this."
Also taking part, Rob Tiffney, said he "knew nothing" about MND before hearing Mr Burrow's story.
The 49-year-old is on day 406 of a 500-day challenge to run 5,000 miles.
Mr Tiffney said he was hoping to raise £35,000 for the MND Association.
"Everyday for 500 days, whatever the weather, I get out and raise as much money and awareness as I can.
"Rob definitely influenced others – look at all the people here today."
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
'Running first Leeds Marathon without Rob will be hard'
'Running first Leeds Marathon without Rob will be hard'
MND Association
Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Manchester City's New Signings Mark New Era In Pep Guardiola's Tenure
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak vowed the club would be 'aggressive' in this summer window after ending last season empty-handed. So far, City has lived up to al-Mubarak's words and then some. In nine days since the transfer window opened, City has already completed the signings of AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for £46.3m ($62.7m) and Wolverhampton left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri for £31m ($42m). A deal for Olympique Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki, meanwhile, has been all but finalized. As per The Athletic, Cherki will move to England for £33.7m ($45.6m). City must register their new signings by 7pm BST (2pm EST) on Tuesday to have them available for the Club World Cup, which begins next week. The significance of City's spending spree is two-fold. First and foremost, it comes with a verdict into alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules still hanging over the club. In February 2023, City was formally charged with breaking financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018 and with failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations into their finances. The club's hearing in the case against the Premier League began on September 16 last year and ran until December 6 in front of a three-person independent commission in London. Back in February, Pep Guardiola admitted he expected the verdict 'within a month'. His forecast has proved to be wide of the mark, with the commission yet to return a judgment six months after the hearing ended. By comparison, it took UEFA just two days to find City guilty of financial manipulation in January 2020, a verdict which was subsequently overturned on appeal. With a judgment still pending, City has wasted no time in reshaping its squad after spending $245m on players in the January transfer window. Omar Marmoush joined from Eintrach Frankfurt, while Savinho and Nico Gonzalez arrived from Troyes and Porto for respectively and centre-back Abdukodir Kushanov signed from Lens. The spending spree was not enough to prevent City from finishing without any silverware for the first time since the 2016-17 season, Guardiola's first campaign in the Premier League. City has won the Premier League six times in the past eight seasons, but finished third 13 points behind eventual champions Liverpool last season and never looked like retaining its crown. The Champions League brought an elimination at the hands of Real Madrid in the Round of 16 and there was heartbreak in the FA Cup final for the second consecutive year with defeat to Cyrstal Palace. In that respect, the arrivals of Reijnders, Aït-Nouri and Chekri point to a clear desire to refresh the squad. Despite the $67.8m arrival of Gonzalez from Porto in January, City's midfield lack of physicality and running power was badly exposed both domestically and in Europe. The issue was exacerbated by the absences of reigning Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who missed almost the entire season with a knee injury, and Mateo Kovacic. Reijnders' arrival should go some way towards addressing the lack of dynamism in City's engine room. The Dutch international was arguably AC Milan's player of the season, with 10 goals and four assists in Serie A. Among midfielders, only Scott McTominay, had more goal involvements with 16. City's new signing, who turns 27 next month, also ranked fifth for through balls and ninth for forward passes in Serie A last season. Milan signed Reijnders from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2023 for $22.8m, but he netted only four goals in 50 appearances across all competitions – a figure that should have been much higher. When he met him in Saudi Arabia in January for the Italian Super Cup, former Milan manager Stefano Pioli teased him about his frequent shots off target. Twelve months on, Reijnders found the same promising positions but now with newfound composure, leading to a significant increase in his goal tally. His shots on target more than tripled last season (from 0.25 to 0.87 per match), while his conversion rate more than doubled, soaring from 10% to 23%. With Kevin De Bruyne leaving the Etihad Stadium as a free agent after 10 trophy-laden years and Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva approaching the winter of their careers, Reijnders could become a key figure in City's midfield. Just like the Dutchman, Aït-Nouri's arrival addresses a glaring weakness in Guardiola's squad. According to Opta stats, in the season just ended among defenders only Trent Alexander Arnold had more goal involvements per 90 minutes than Aït-Nouri, with 0.34 to 0.32 respectively. The prototypical modern full-back, who can use his athleticism to burst forward and is comfortable with the ball at his feet, the Algeria international is a versatile player. Aït-Nouri played at left wing-back under Vitor Pereira following the Portuguese's arrival at Wolves in December. Pereira switched between a five-man defense and a 3-4-3 formation, with the 24-year-old operating as an attacking wing-back in both circumstances. The Algeria international played in the same role under Gary O'Neill, Pereira's predecessor, when he was also deployed further forward as a left midfielder. But of the trio of signings, it is arguably Cherki who is the most intriguing. The 21-year-old is coming off a breakout season, with 12 goals and 20 assists in all competitions and made his France debut last week, scoring in the 5-4 defeat against Spain in the Nations League semi-final. Cherki also scored in both legs of the Europa League quarter-final against Manchester United and was named in the Europa League Team of the Season. Data from Opta shows he outperformed City's attacking midfielders - Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Savinho - in all but one category last season, shots per 90 minutes. Cherki and Doku both took 2.2 shots per game, while Savinho and Foden took 2.8 and 3.0 respectively. The Frenchman, however, led the quartet in goals per 90 minutes with a 0.4 figure, compared to Foden and Doku's 0.3 and Savinho's 0.1. Cherki's 0.6 assists per game were the high watermark in the category, when compared with Doku's 0.4, Savinho's 0.3 and Foden's 0.2 and he was also significant better in terms of creating opportunities. The Lyon midfielder set up 3.7 chances per 90 minutes, comfortably ahead of Savinho and Foden with 2.3 and Doku with 2.1. A versatile player who can operate either as attacking midfielder or on the wing, Cherki is gifted with superb technique and looks ready to fill the void left by De Bruyne. Former Arsenal striker and current CBS analyst Thierry Henry said he has "never seen a player in history who dribbles as quickly as him". High praise indeed. The Premier League has been warned.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Chelsea youngster Donnell McNeilly rejects contract offer, plans to leave club
Chelsea Under-21s striker Donnell McNeilly has rejected a contract offer to stay at Stamford Bridge and is planning to leave this summer. McNeilly's current deal expires at the end of the month and Chelsea wanted to give him an extension. But the 19-year-old, who has not been given a chance to play for the senior side despite consistently being among the leading scorers in the youth ranks in recent years, is looking to leave in order to get first-team football. McNeilly is generating interest from Premier League and EFL clubs. The teenager's main priority is joining a side with the best pathway to getting senior minutes so he can kick on with the next phase of his career As well as scoring 15 times in 28 appearances for the Under-21s this season, the striker showed his ability against Chelsea's senior players in a training drill game back in March. As The Athletic reported at the time, McNeilly netted a brace in a 3-0 victory for an Under-21 team against a group comprising of first-team members. Advertisement Head coach Enzo Maresca ended up cancelling a day off for the senior players after being left unimpressed by their performance. Chelsea will not be able to charge a fee for McNeilly's departure because he is under 24 but will be entitled to compensation because he has been with them since Under-12 level. ()
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Diarra would be an ambitious signing'
[Getty Images] Leeds fans will get perhaps their first glimpse of potential new signing Habib Diarra when England play his Senegal side at Wembley on Tuesday. The White's £22m bid was reported by L'Equipe over the weekend, and is the first concrete offer that has come to light since this summer's window began. Advertisement The 21-year-old Diarra is a box-to-box midfielder who is strong in-and-out of possession and he progresses the ball with trickery in transition. Despite his age, the Senegalese international has three years of Ligue 1 experience; while he captained Strasbourg last season and his four goals and five assists was the biggest contribution of his young career. United's owners, 49ers Enterprises, are known for going about their transfer business very quietly. Signings like Ethan Ampadu and Largie Ramazani happened with very few rumours before those transfers were completed. The 49ers see this strategy as crucial to securing the best deals they can for the club. Advertisement Midfield was arguably the Whites strongest area in last year's record-breaking 100 point season. Club-captain Ampadu, instant fan favourite Ao Tanaka, Illia Gruev and loanee Joe Rothwell formed a brick wall in the Leeds engine room. But United have lost Rothwell and with the Premier League being a huge step up, it is vital the team is strengthened in all areas of the pitch. Diarra would be an ambitious signing and it is a measure of what the club think of him with the size of their opening bid. Having risen through the French team's academy to captain the club into Europe, Diarra may need convincing. But the Peacocks proved with May's parade what a sleeping giant they are, and Leeds in the Premier League will be a proposition for anyone. Find more from Adonis Storr at The Roaring Peacock
