Caroline Morrison, from Neilston, raised the sum for Scottish Autism after taking part in the Paris Marathon on Sunday, April 12.

With 50,000 runners taking part in the race through the French capital, Caroline admitted she had felt nervous but looked forward to taking part in the challenge.

She spoke to The News before the race: “I wouldn’t call myself a runner. I’ve been doing five and 10k charity runs over the last four years and getting friends and family involved along the way, but I think this will be my first and last marathon.” Caroline’s son, Dominic, was diagnosed with autism when he was three-years-old so her chosen charity is especially close to her heart and with April being Autism Awareness Month, Caroline’s fundraising efforts are perfectly timed.

What makes Caroline’s challenge even more remarkable is that she has had to overcome her partner Paul suffering from a heart attack as well as enduring injury problems herself.

“Paul is normally my running partner and was due to take part in the Paris Marathon too, but he is recovering after heart surgery earlier this year,” she explained.

“Not only that, but my knees are suffering slightly from the training programme. On the day, however, I will focus on the support my friends and family have given to Scottish Autism and do the best I can, resisting the temptation to hop on the Paris metro for the last few miles.” Scottish Autism provides targeted, individual support focusing on different priorities within an individual’s life such as occupational, leisure and recreation, life skills, domestic skills, emotional support, coping with the impact of ASD, community activities. They also help people at college and living away from home.

Karen Wilson, Scottish Autism’s fundraising manager, said: “During Autism Awareness Month we want to get as many people as possible talking about autism, and Caroline’s incredible personal challenge has certainly done that.

“It is amazing that Caroline has struggled on through Paul’s illness and her injury to raise money for Scottish Autism — we want to send her a huge thank you. If it wasn’t for people like Caroline doing these inspirational things, Scottish Autism would not be able to reach as many people affected by autism in Scotland.” If you would like to support Caroline and donate, go to /www.justgiving.com/doingit4dom/.

For more information about Scottish Autism visit www.scottishautism.org or phone 01259 720044.