Completing four Honolulu Marathons is worthy feat for any runner, but only a select few will have done it the way Capt. Nicole Dunford-Powell intends.

Dunford-Powell, a flight surgeon with Task Force Diamond Head, the 2nd Battalion of the 25th Aviation Regiment of the Hawai'i-based 25th Infantry Division, is helping to coordinate this year's second annual Ho-nolulu Marathon in Iraq.

The race will be staged at Contingency Operations Base Speicher in the Sunni Triangle on Dec. 10, the same day as the real Honolulu Marathon.

The Iraq event marks the third consecutive year that a Honolulu Marathon satellite race has been staged in the Middle East.

Two years ago, Capt. Ivan Hurlburt organized a Honolulu Marathon at Firebase Ripley in remote Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, as a morale booster for Honolulu Marathon veterans and other runners stationed in the country. Last year, five-time Honolulu Marathon finisher Lt. Col. Jim O'Donnell organized a Honolulu Marathon in Baghdad, Iraq.

Dunford-Powell, a 31-year-old flight surgeon from Albany, N.Y., ran her first Honolulu Marathon during her last year of residency at Tripler Army Medical Center.

"It was so cheap for active-duty military, and I thought, 'Why not?' " she recalls. "Crossing that finish line meant so much to me."

When she heard about the 2004 satellite race in Afghanistan, where she served for a year and a half, she had to sign up.

Her third Honolulu Marathon was back in Hawai'i last year — with a special escort.

"My father flew over to watch me," she says. "He wanted to walk the half-marathon, so I decided to do it with him. When we got to the half-marathon point, we decided to keep going. It was great to be able to show my dad Hawai'i."

On Dec. 10, Dunford-Powell will be one of a dozen Honolulu and Afghanistan marathon finishers to participate in the Iraq event.

Dunford-Powell said about 100 runners have signed up for the race so far. The number will likely double as race day draws near.

Race organizers are working with TAPS — the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors — to make the race even more meaningful for participants.

"Each runner will run in honor of a fallen service member," Dunford-Powell said. "I think that makes it even more special."

As with the previous two satellite races, this year's event is being staged with the full sanction and support of the Honolulu Marathon Association, which is already sending volunteer and finisher shirts, shell lei, race numbers and other items to assure a true "Honolulu Marathon" experience. Burns Computer Service/ChampionChip is renewing its support by sending timing equipment for the race.

In the past two years, Hawai'i residents have donated thousands of gifts and useful items to the satellite races, including prizes for the winners, running apparel, sunglasses, sunscreen, socks, energy bars and gels, sports drinks and petroleum jelly (to prevent chafing). Dunford-Powell says such offerings would again be appreciated. (Organizers are unable to process monetary donations.)

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.