With less than a week to go before the Boston Marathon, two Mattapoisett men are in the home stretch of their training and looking ahead to Heartbreak Hill.

First time marathoners Nils Johnson and Jeff Sanders are both running for the Arredondo Family Foundation, established by Carlos Arredondo to help military families who have experienced a suicide with immediate financial needs as well as to provide siblings with college scholarships.

Arredondo’s elder son, a marine, was killed in Iraq, and his younger son later committed suicide. The cowboy hat wearing Arredondo was at the 2013 Boston Marathon when the bombs went off and helped runner Jeff Bauman. He was inspired to combine these horrific incidents in his life to help others.

Sanders became acquainted with Arredondo and his Boston area group as an organizer of the New Bedford Half Marathon.

“He’s taken some of his personal tragedy to turn it into a foundation helping other people in similar circumstances,” he said.

Sanders signed on to run with the team this year and got Johnson a bib as well.

Johnson, who owns The Inn on Shipyard Park, said it’s an honor to run with the foundation.

“It’s nice to know that if any sort of tragedy was going to happen to somebody we knew, that there’s people out there who would help them,” he said.

Johnson got a late start to training, not hitting the pavement until February, but it’s been a goal of his to run a marathon before he turned 40.

“It seemed like a far off idea,” said Johnson, but with only a few months away until the big birthday, it was now or never. “If I don’t do it now, I’m not going to be physically able to do it or flat out want to do it.”

He’s been taking it easy on his body recently, so he’ll have “fresh legs” for the 21.2-mile course. Plus, he admitted that running the same roads in town everyday get old.

“It mentally kind of beats you up. It gets to be a drag,” said Johnson. The marathon will provide him with new scenery and he said it’s nice when “you’re not sure where the hell you are.”

Sanders, who has run one half marathon, began training January 2.

“It’s been tough to find time recently, but I feel good. I feel strong,” he said.

An attorney in Mattapoisett, he has been using his lunch breaks to train, and he said he’ll be ready on Marathon Monday, April 18.

“I get faster as I go,” said Sanders. “The more tired I get, the faster I run. I think I just want to get finished.”

Before they get to the starting line, the men are working to raise $5,000 each for the Arredondo Family Foundation. They have done a fundraiser at The Inn and are reaching out to family, friends and the community.

To support their run, visit www.gofundme.com/nilsjohnson. For more information on the Arredondo Family Foundation, visit arredondofoundation.org.