Rob Burrow is one of the greatest players of his generation, he is certainly one of the most unique and exciting players to ever grace the great game of rugby league.
He made his debut back in 2001 and many expected teams to overpower the little man but as a try against Warrington Wolves showed early in his career, he was going to be tough to handle.
He was the young player of the year on 2001 and that was a small taste of what he would deliver in the years to come in Super League.
In less than a decade, he was already a four time Super League Champion and the head of his testimonial he claimed a second Harry Sunderland Award as Man of the Match in a Grand Final.
That was of course the 2011 Grand Final where he scooped the award with all the votes having scored and created two of the Grand Final’s greatest ever moments.
He would finish his career with eight Grand Final wins the most for a one club man.
He also won two Challenge Cups, three World Club Challenges and three League Leaders Shields.
He was also a try scorer in a Challenge Cup Final win in 2015 and a World Club Challenge win in 2005.
A legendary player who made nearly 500 appearances scoring 196 tries for Leeds alone.
However, two years after his retirement he began his biggest battle yet as he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in December 2019.
Since then he has led the fight against MND inspiring others and helping raise money and awareness in the fight against the illness which as of yet has no cure.
In his efforts to raise awareness in this battle, Burrow has had a marathon named after him.
The Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon which takes place 14th May 2023 and will see Burrow’s good friend Kevin Sinfield push him around the course as the likes of Rohan Smith also participate.
However, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung has now said the price of entering the marathon was a “barrier” to disadvantaged people according to the BBC.
A spokesperson for organisers Jane Tomlinson’s Run For All said the fees covered the cost of staging the event.
“My concern is the cost of it. How can people who are not as privileged as ourselves take part in such a sport? Katung who is participating in the event said.
“If you think of the cost of participating – I’m thinking of the barriers – what are we doing to encourage amateur runners to take part in such a beautiful event coming up in our city?”
That said Run For All have defended the price with a spokesperson for the event saying to the BBC:
“To date we haven’t received any negative feedback from the public as to the cost of entry,” they said.
“The cost of staging a world-class event of this nature, over 26.2 miles of closed roads in and around the city is substantial and we want to ensure we are both engaging and supporting the communities in which the run will travel through.”
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