Pacific residents welcomed a handful of Marines, members of the Always Brothers 100-Mile Run, at City Hall at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

In addition to staying up late to support the Always Brothers contingent, Pacific’s group tossed its pocketbooks into the effort, contributing $8,734.20 to the charity.

The Northwest 100-mile run raises educational funds for children of servicemen who were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pacific’s efforts, led by Councilmember Katie Garberding, included donations, a benefit car wash and a dinner/auction on the evening of the run.

Garberding said she was pleased to surpass her $7,000 fundraising goal.

“I just decided that what they do is so spectacular … we had to do something this year to show our support,” she said.

On Aug. 11, 2011, a group of Marines ran 100 miles – from Thurmont, Md., to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia – to honor a comrade, Capt. Tyler B. Swisher, and raise funds for his family.

After that first run, those Marines – all veterans of Marine Barracks 8th and I in Washington D.C., a unit tasked with ceremonial and security duties involving the President of the United States – decided to make their little jog an annual event. The run raises money and awareness for those who have lost family members in the line of duty.

The Always Brothers’ 100-mile runs have branched out from that first one on the East Coast.

This year’s event started at 6 a.m. July 26 at Leschi Marina in Seattle, wound through 21 South King and North Pierce county cities – among them Pacific, Algona and Auburn – and finished at Century Link Field in Seattle.