Or perhaps more appropriately, they are running the run.

Six members of Hills 75th Security Forces Squadron have been

rigorously training since December to run in the 19th annual Bataan Memorial Death March marathon at the White Sands Missile Range in Las Cruces, N.M.

"I think it can be easy to say you support the troops or you remember those that have given their lives for us," said Maj. Shannon Smith, commander of the 75th SFS. "But sometimes you have to put actions to words."

The Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University spearheaded the memorial march in 1989 with about 100 competitors. The march now averages about 4,000 runners each year.

Smith, retired Master Sgt. James Purtell, Lt. David Bullock, Sr. Airman James Dixon, Sr. Airman Michael Salansky and Master Sgt. Stephen Werner have spent three months training for the marathon, which pays tribute to American and Filipino service members who, in 1942, were forced by Japanese soldiers to march 70 miles through the jungles of the Philippines to a prison camp.

More than 70,000 service members endured savage physical abuse and torture. Soldiers were beheaded, disemboweled, casually shot and denied food and water as they marched to the prison camps.

Historians figure somewhere between 6,000 and 11,000 men died during the march alone, with many more dying at the camps.

"Its a really brutal and ugly piece of history," Purtell

said. "I cant imagine what those guys went through."

The marathon on Sunday will require participants to dress in full military gear, including combat boots, and carry a 35-pound rucksack.

To prepare, the team from Hill has been training six days a week, doing a variety of activities, including running, weight training, swimming and biking.

The group hopes to finish the 26.2-mile course in about 5 1/2 hours.

The team started with 12 members, but has dwindled to six after would-be competitors dropped out because of injury or pure fatigue.

"This is by far the toughest training I have ever done in my life," said Purtell, who at 44 is the oldest member of the team. "But I am definitely in the best shape of my life."

The marathon runs through the mountains of Las Cruces with elevations ranging from 4,000 feet to 5,300 feet.

To prepare for the rugged terrain, the team has run along Trapper's Loop, in mountain areas in Brigham City and on Antelope Island.

Smith, an experienced marathon runner, said the march will be unlike anything he's encountered before.

"Youve got to figure, with all the gear we are wearing, were

putting on an extra 45 pounds or so," he said. "Plus, the terrain is a lot more difficult than your average marathon."

Smith and the others say it wont be hard to find motivation

during the trek. Nineteen survivors of the real Bataan Death March will be manning aid stations along the way.

"After we started training, some of us kind of thought, 'What did we get ourselves into?"' Smith said. "But the thought of the guys who actually went through it keeps you going. And when we actually compete, seeing them is going to do the same thing."

Bullock agrees.

"Yeah, it wont be hard to put one foot in front of the other

when we see those guys," he said. "Thats all the motivation you

need."

Harold Poole, 89, was in the U.S. Army Air Corps and survived the horrific events of the Bataan Death March.

Poole, who was born in Woods Cross but now resides in Holladay, said he was honored to hear a younger generation was doing something to remember him and his fellow soldiers.

"I think thats just terrific," he said when he heard about

the marchers from Hill. "I wish them the best of luck."

Poole said the marathon will help keep the memory of Bataan POWs alive.

"It was pretty awful, and I saw some terrible things that Ive

tried to forget about," he said, "but I think it is important to remember, only so nothing like that will ever happen again."

Smith said survivors such as Poole are the reason his team is running the marathon.

"Obviously, this gets us into shape. It builds camaraderie among the guys, but the sole reason we are doing this is to remember the survivors," he said.

"The World War II generation wont be around much longer, so we

want to do this to connect with them and say thanks."