A half marathon benefiting the Keaton Coffey Memorial Scholarship will be held the morning of Saturday, May 25, in Sweet Home.
Runners will have the opportunity to choose from a 1.3-mile trail run, an 8K and a half marathon, which will begin and end at Community Chapel. The run also will benefit The Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Home Front.
Boring resident Cpl. Keaton Coffey was killed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan on May 24, 2012, just weeks before he was scheduled to return from his last deployment and marry Brittany Dyger.
The only son of Grant and Inger Coffey, he attended Damascus Christian School from kindergarten through his senior year, graduating in 2007. Coffey briefly attended George Fox University before joining the Marines.
He was killed during his second tour of duty while conducting combat operations. He was 22, and the 153rd service member with Oregon and southwestern Washington ties to die in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Along with Coffey, the event will honor another military service person killed in action, a wounded veteran and a military service person who was shot twice in action and still serves.
The Hero Half Marathon will offer free ice cream, face painting, a bouncy house and military buzz cuts. A fire truck, National Guard Humvee, soldier memorials and The Wounded Warrior Project booth will be onsite.
Registration for the run begins at 7:30 a.m., with the run kicking off at 8 a.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/HeroHalf or email herohalfmarathon@gmail.com. To volunteer, email Volunteer.getmeregistered.com.