A WINCHESTER mother-of-two is running the London Marathon this weekend to raise money for Amnesty International.

Mary Gawne-Cain, of Chesil Street, hopes to raise £3,000 for the movement, and is already over halfway there.

She has been training for several weeks for the 26-mile challenge, which will be her second marathon, having run her first in 2003.

On that occasion, she finished in four hours and 55 minutes and this time she hopes to dip underneath four hours and 30 minutes.

"I've completed lots of training, so I'm hoping for a better time this year."

Dr Gawne-Cain, who works in the Wessex Neurological Centre at Southampton General Hospital, will be taking part in a bright yellow top provided by Amnesty International.

The organisation, which fights for global human rights, currently has around 1.8m members who are spread across 150 countries.

To sponsor Dr Gawne-Cain on her marathon this Sunday, visit www.justgiving.com/mgc.