Kevin Sinfield carried Rob Burrow over the finish line at the inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon after pushing his great friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate for 26.2 miles on Sunday.

With just a couple of metres left to go, Sinfield lifted Burrow out of his specially adapted wheelchair and the pair completed the course together in an emotional conclusion at Headingley Stadium.

As a crowd cheered them on, Sinfield gave Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in late 2019, a kiss of affection after joining 12,500 other runners in Leeds’ first marathon in 20 years.

Sinfield has raised more than £8million for MND charities after several other ventures, including an Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge in November when he ran seven back-to-back ultra-marathons.

In late 2020, Sinfield ran seven marathons in seven days and in 2021 he completed a run of 101 miles in 24 hours.

Sunday’s event, plus the Leeds Half Marathon which also took place on Sunday, was held by Leeds City Council in partnership with Jane Tomlinson’s Run For All charity and has already surpassed the £1m fundraising mark.

Sinfield told the PA news agency on Friday: “To raise money for the MND Association and the Leeds Hospitals Charity is really important, but this is also about a celebration of friendship.”