5K being held in memory of Corey Ray
Beloved Madison Central High School Resource Officer Corey Ray will be remembered with the Corey Ray 9/11 5K Walk-Run Honoring the Heroes event next month in Madison and Brookhaven.
The Warriors of the Badge Foundation, a nonprofit focused on aiding injured and fallen first responders, is hosting the event they hope will become an annual event remembering Ray who died last month after a long illness.
The purpose of the run is to honor Ray and remember other first responders who gave their lives during the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, organizers said.
Vicki Moak, president of the Warriors of the Badge Foundation and the mother of a fallen Brookhaven officer, said she met Ray three weeks before he died and decided to honor him in the upcoming run in gratitude for his help in planning the event, and for being a beloved and well-known Madison officer.
“I heard about Corey on TV, and it was around the time I wanted to start branching out to different places besides Lincoln County, where we’re based,” Moak said. “I met with him, and he agreed to help out with the run.”
Moak said by that time, the 5K had been set in motion, but Ray died July 14, the week he was supposed to meet with Moak again for more planning.
“It was when he passed that I decided I wanted to honor him in this race along with fallen first responders,” Moak said. “Even if there are people that don’t take part in the walk or run, we ask that you purchase a T-shirt to help the organization, and cheer on the first responders and give them the honor they deserve.”
Warriors of the Badge is a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 that provides aid and assistance to law enforcement, firefighters, EMS, and families killed or critically injured in the line of duty throughout the United States. Warriors of the Badge is based in Lincoln County but hopes to branch out to other counties such as Madison.
The Corey Ray 9/11 5K Walk-Run Honoring the Heroes will take place in two official locations on Sept. 11, one in Madison at Parkway Pentecostal Church at 301 Reunion Parkway and the other at Brookhaven Central Fire Station at 314 Brookhaven St. in Brookhaven. Both runs start at 8:46 a.m., which is the time an airplane struck the first World Trade Center Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
Online registration for the 5K is open until Sept. 10, and participants can still register on-site before the race between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Participants receive a T-shirt upon registration if they sign up before Aug. 27.
Registration is $25 per person, or you may purchase only a shirt or extra shirts for $18 each. Children 12 years and under may walk/run for free, but shirts are not available.
“Come out and support the first responders,” Moak said. “If one of your family members is a firefighter, EMS, or in law enforcement, come out in honor of them.”
For more information and how to register for the run, visit the Warriors of the Badge website at www.warriorsofthebadge.org/events.