The event to benefit the Free Wheelchair Mission is set for April 26 in downtown Wheeling. It is called a “10-year” marathon because its course will encompass just 2.6 miles — one-tenth of the usual 26-mile marathon length. ‘‘If you run it every year for the next 10 years, you will have run a marathon,’’ said race organizer Chris Figaretti, who serves as pastor at the Vineyard Church in Wheeling.

The church hopes to raise $265,925 with its effort. At a cost of $48.35 each, this is enough to purchase the equivalent of 5,500 handmade plastic wheelchairs for those in impoverished countries who need them. ‘‘For every $48.35, a person gets a wheelchair,’’ Figaretti said. ‘‘It gets somebody in a Third World country up and out of the dirt.’’

It was about a year ago that Figaretti first learned of the Free Wheelchair Mission and asked representatives to come speak at his church. The Vineyard Church raised $115,000 over the course of a weekend for the effort.

Wheelchair Mission Founder Don Shoendorfer, an engineer, first was inspired to craft a low-cost wheelchair and make them available to the needy while on a trip to Morocco in 1980. He had seen a disabled woman crawling across a dirt road there and realized a need existed.

Shoendorfer’s wheelchair consists of two mountain bike tires attached to a plastic lawn chair, and he calculated these could be made and shipped for less than $50 each. To date, more than 300,000 of the wheelchairs have been distributed, according to Figaretti, and plans call for 20 million to be made and shipped in the next several years. The Free Wheelchair Mission estimates that as many as 100 million people worldwide may be in need of the chairs.

Shoendorfer, meanwhile, will strive to bring much attention to the cause this summer as he takes his ‘‘Mobility in Motion’’ tour to major areas across the country. Because of the support of those at the Vineyard Church, the organization considers Wheeling to be one of its ‘‘major areas.’’

Shoendorfer contacted Figaretti to tell him he was planning to wrap a tractor-trailer truck with the Free Wheelchair Mission graphic, filling the truck with the low-cost wheelchairs and hitting the road to make people aware of the organization. He asked Figaretti if a weekend of events could be planned in Wheeling.

The agenda for the ‘‘Mobility in Motion’’ weekend in Wheeling begins April 25, with a fundraising dinner at River City Ale Works.

Registration for the races on April 26 begins at 8 a.m. Both the ‘‘Non-Competitive Half-Mile Wheelchair Roll’’ and the ‘‘10-Year Marathon Roll’’ are slated to begin at 8:45 a.m.

The shorter, non-competitive wheelchair roll begins at the WesBanco Arena. It follows Main Street to 16th Street and makes a loop back to WesBanco Arena.

The longer 10-year roll, meanwhile, begins and ends at WesBanco Arena. It follows Main Street into south Wheeling and returns on the scenic Heritage Trail back to Main Street and WesBanco Arena.

A children’s fun run is set for 9:30 a.m., while the 10-Year Free Wheelchair Mission Marathon for runners starts at 10 a.m.

The idea for a 10-year marathon came from Wheeling resident and runner Chuck Miller, Figaretti said. He had asked for Miller’s assistance in putting the weekend together in a short amount of time.

‘‘As far as we know, nobody has ever organized a 10-year marathon’’ said Miller. ‘‘This is a whole new format and concept to the running world.’’ Miller even discussed the race with Runners World Magazine, and its staff was very enthusiastic about the concept, he said.

‘‘The distance is short enough that most people can do it with little or no training, but long enough to be a good competitive beginning to the road racing season,’’ he noted. ‘‘This is something that the whole community can participate in.’’

Those interested can pre-register for the race at runwalkandroll.com. They also can sign up to raise funds through sponsors at the Web site.