Trainee Maxine Goble took part in this year's Virgin London marathon raising over £1,600 for one of our charities of the year, MacIntyre.

This is the first full marathon that Maxine has participated in and her training started back in October 2010.
 
She says: "I have always wanted to be fit enough to run a marathon and had been unsuccessful in gaining a place for the London Marathon through the ballot for the last three years. When Morgan Cole's CSR committee announced that there was a charity golden bond place available through MacIntyre, I jumped at the opportunity to take part."

"Apart from an injury which halted training during January, I kept up with the training schedule which meant that I was on course to finish in five hours. Unfortunately, there was no way to prepare for the hot weather on the day which made it even more of a challenge. I finished the 26.2 mile course in 6 hours and 19 minutes and I'm already thinking about my next marathon so I can improve on that time!"
 
MacIntyre is a national charity which provides learning, support and care for more than 900 children and adults with learning disabilities, at more than 120 MacIntyre services across the UK. They are able to provide care through their registered care homes, supported living schemes, accredited training schemes and lifelong learning services, as well as residential special schools and a further education college. They enrich the lives of these people. To find out more about MacIntyre, and the work they do, please visit their website http://www.macintyrecharity.org/
 
If you would like to sponsor Maxine, please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Maxine