About 100 members of the Maine National Guard plan to make a marathon’s grueling physical ordeal even tougher.

On Sunday, as runners pull on their featherweight shoes for the Maine Marathon, the soldiers will lace up combat boots and hoist 30-pound packs on their backs.

The exercise – all 26.2 miles – is meant to spotlight the sacrifice of the eight Maine Guardsmen who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

All of the pain of running those miles is small by comparison, said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Boubel, who works in the Norway armory.

“It’s a very, very, very small price to pay,” said Boubel, who ran half the distance last year but plans to run the whole course on Sunday.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he said.

After all, last year’s half-marathon was tough enough. He and his buddy, who ran the other half, together finished the whole course in about eight hours.

But Boubel didn’t train for it. Many of the guys didn’t know what to expect. In the end, they had burst blisters and bleeding heels.

“My wife had to peel my boots off me,” he said. In the days after, he and others had trouble walking.

Boubel won’t be alone among the local soldiers. Four other men from the Lewiston and Norway armories plan to run the entire marathon, he said. Four others plan to divide it into four parts and run it as a kind of relay, Boubel said.

His advice to the others: Be prepared, and if you get hurt, stop.

“We don’t want people to injure themselves,” he said.

The guard plans to set up four first aid stations along the route, mostly to handle foot problems.

Meanwhile, Boubel has worked to get himself ready for the ordeal, running on his own and sometimes wearing boots and a pack.

He gets his share of looks from strangers as he runs along the road or on trails, he said.

The Maine Marathon begins and ends on Portland’s Baxter Boulevard, between Forest Avenue and Preble Street. It is scheduled to began at 6 a.m.