Mercer Islanders are encouraged to come out and cheer on a group of Marines as they run 100 miles through the greater Seattle area on Aug. 10 and 11.

The run will raise money to research brain diseases and injuries experienced by veterans. It’s the third year that Always Brothers, a non-profit fraternal organization made up of Marines and other veterans, has hosted the run.

A group of Marines and civilians will leave from Leschi at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, and run through Mercer Island, Renton, Maple Valley and Enumclaw before stopping at the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Soldiers Home in Orting.

During the Mercer Island portion of the event, the runners will cross the Island on the I-90 express lanes. Island residents are encouraged to come out Saturday morning to cheer on the runners.

The run will continue through Puyallup, up through Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, South Park and West Seattle, where the group will get a police escort over the West Seattle bridge to finish at CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m. on Aug. 11.

The event will raise money for One Mind for Research, a Seattle nonprofit that is dedicated to curing brain diseases, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress.

“My original inspiration for working to improve diagnostics and treatments for brain injuries was the incredible number of soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI and PTS,” said One Mind’s CEO Gen. Pete Chiarelli (Ret.), Seattle native and former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. “We are proud to be supported by veterans’ organizations like Always Brothers to aid our mission of dealing with these ‘invisible wounds’ in both the military and civilian populations.”

Some of the runners will race the entire 100 miles, while others will do the event as part of a team, racing between five- to 25-mile legs.

“Running 100 miles in 24 hours won’t be easy, but it’s nothing compared to what soldiers with PTS and TBI face,” says Marine Dan Neilsen, a Maple Valley resident and vice president of Always Brothers.

“We invite anyone and everyone to cheer us along the route, come to the north plaza of CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m. on Aug. 11 to watch us finish, or support the run financially at active.com/donate/AlwaysBros100OneMind.”

Islanders can follow the runners’ progress on social media by using the hashtag #100forONEMIND on Aug. 10-11.