Endurance running will ride into the world of endurance motor racing this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.

The name of the soon-to-be-capstone running event in the Stark County area — the Canton Marathon — will be painted on the hood and both sides of a car entered in the final event of the Grand-Am Racing Series. Practice and pole qualifying for the event will be Friday and the race is at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Canton Marathon has partnered with Team Sahlen, a competitor in the Grand Touring class, with three Mazda RX8 cars entered in the race.

The team is owned by the Nonnamaker family, which owns dozens of Subway Restaurant franchises in the region.

“Subway is my business, but racing is my passion,” said Will Nonnamaker, marketing director and one of two drivers of the car in Saturday’s race. The other driver is Joe Sahlen of Sahlen’s, a meat products company of Buffalo, N.Y., that sponsors Team Sahlen.

Subway and Kempthorn Mazda are sponsors of the Canton Marathon, noted Stephen Mears, CEO of the race that will debut next year. Kempthorn Mazda has provided a Mazda CX7 wrapped with Canton Marathon graphics for the event.

“We have watched the Team Sahlen guys compete in the 24 hours at Daytona endurance race, as well as several other venues,” Mears said. “With Kempthorn Mazda, the Mazda race team and Subway Fresh Fit, it just clicked.”

The common theme, he said, is endurance. Training is necessary for both runners and race car drivers to compete in long-distance events. When runners step off in June 2012 for the Canton Marathon weekend, they will compete in seven long-distance events, including the full 26.2-mile marathon. Endurance motor racing, Mears explained, includes timed races that typically last at least three hours and require at least one driver change.

“These guys really are athletes, though they are not typically viewed as such by the general public,” said Mears. “A healthy lifestyle is a must.”

Nonnamaker said he also sees a kinship between participants in his racing series and those who will enter what he believes will become the annual crowning running event in the area.

“There are professional race drivers in our series,” said Nonnamaker, who noted that Team Sahlen includes a professional driver, John Edwards. “And there are professional runners who will enter the Canton Marathon.

“But most everyone else has jobs. That’s kind of like us. We have real jobs. We just love to race.”

To enter the Canton Marathon, visit www.CantonMarathon.com. For information about the marathon, write steve@cantonmarathon.com or call 330-456-9811.