Two years ago, television personality Martha Stewart was the honorary starter at the Mount Desert Island Marathon and even had race director Gary Allen as a guest on her show “Martha Stewart Living” later that year.

This year, another world-renowned figure, 1984 Olympic Marathon champion and Freeport native Joan Benoit Samuelson, will be making an appearance at the sixth annual race this weekend, speaking at the prerace pasta dinner at MDI High School Saturday evening at 6:45.

The TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K race founder is creating such a buzz on the island that as of Tuesday, the pasta dinner was completely sold out.

“She’s a pretty major person in the running world. I think some runners want to hear what she has to say,” said Allen, who added that Samuelson “has not committed to run.”

The MDI Marathon, presented by Red Lobster, will celebrate its sixth birthday Sunday at 8 a.m.

The race starts in downtown Bar Harbor and finishes in Southwest Harbor.

The buildup of Samuelson’s appearance had registration forms flowing. As of Thursday evening, about 100 spots were remaining in the 1,000-runner field. No race-day entries will be accepted.

Some of those spots may go to runners who were unable to finish last weekend’s Chicago Marathon, where race organizers stopped the event due to oppressive heat.

“Maybe we’ll add a little invitation and invite Chicago Marathoners to come here,” Allen said. “Right now people are fuming about what happened at Chicago.”

Weather conditions Sunday should be perfect for running – sunny and in the low 50s.

“We think the weather’s going to be ideal,” Allen said.

Both 2006 champions will be present to defend their titles. David Herr of Cannan, Vt., will be seeking his fourth crown and is expected to run around 2 hours, 29 minutes, according to Allen, while defending women’s champ Debra Moreau of Turner is back as well, along with 2005 women’s winner Lara Judson.

The favorite on the women’s side looks to be Lee Cheng-Hua of Albany, N.Y., who is projected to run in the 2:45 range.

Some local runners in the men’s field include Ellsworth High School cross country coach Andy Beardsley of Surry, last year’s runner-up; Erik McCarthy of Orono, Austin Townsend Jr. of Perry and Sub 5 Track Club president Ryan King of Bangor.

Patti Craig of Holden, who coaches cross country at Bangor High, and Mary Parsons of Hampden headline local runners in the women’s field.

They will be tested on a true marathon course that features a little bit of everything from rolling hills to steep climbs and friendly downhills.

Throw in the pristine mid-October foliage and views of Cadillac Mountain and the only natural fjord on the Eastern Seaboard, and it’s easy to see why this race earned the honor of Runner’s World magazine’s Race of the Month.

“The hills aren’t necessarily a big detriment,” Allen said. “One runner said one year, there’s too much to look at and you don’t realize you’re getting tired. We get a lot of Boston qualifiers here.”

The MDI Marathon serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, and Allen even compared the toughness and quaint villages on his course to those of the annual Patriots Day event while noting it’s essential that the race serves as a Boston qualifier.

Allen explained that does draw a lot of runners to the Island year in and year out.

Allen added that marathons shouldn’t mirror track meets; in other words, when the MDI course was laid out six years ago, he wasn’t looking to design a flat-as-a-pancake course.

“It’s supposed to be hard, it really is,” Allen said. “Who knows, 100 years from now if this event is still going on and I hope it is, people will talk about how this is what a marathon should be.”

Allen and his team of volunteers have been busier than ever this week, making sure everything from packet pickup to water stops runs flawlessly.

“As the race director, it sometimes feels like a conductor to an orchestra,” he said. “You are almost conducting so many things that have to happen.”

A veteran runner who has run many marathons – Allen will be gunning for his 50th career sub-3:00 effort at the New York City Marathon next month – he knows what it takes to put on a tip-top event.

“It’s the little small things [that matter],” he said, “[like] safety precautions, awards, [making sure] Gatorade mixtures are properly done at water stops.”

Runners from as far away as Texas, California and even the European country of Hungary have signed up, according to Allen.