The AWS1 James Buriak Foundation, a foundation created to help families of military personnel who were killed while on duty, is hosting its annual Loosefoot 616 Memorial Run on Oct. 18.
This year’s run will start at Tidelands Park and go along the waterfront to various points, depending on the run. There will be a 6.16-mile run, 6.16-kilometer run, 616-meter kids’ run and a virtual alternative for each.
To register for one of the runs and donate to the AWS1 James Buriak Foundation, visit raceroster.com. It costs $50.14 to register for the 6.16-mile run, $44.78 for the 6.16-kilometer run and $28.74 for the 616-meter kids’ run.
On Aug. 31, 2021, a crew of Navy members attempted to land a helicopter on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Coronado-based aircraft carrier that was 60 miles off the coast of San Diego. As they landed, a malfunction caused the rotors to fly off and sent the helicopter over the edge of the carrier and into the ocean.
Five of the six crew members died as a result. One of the five who passed was Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class James Buriak. Megan Buriak, James’ widow, started the AWS1 James Buriak Foundation to provide support for Navy and Marine Corps families in situations comparable to hers. And this month, the foundation is hosting a memorial run in Coronado.
“If you can create a foundation to help people and give back to the community and make it just one ounce, one teeny little bit easier for these families that have to endure the hardest thing that they probably will ever go through on the planet, and we’re capable, then why shouldn’t we?” Buriak said.
It all started with a few friends and a notebook.
“We took this notebook and I said, ‘Everything on the left page, we’re going to try to advocate for … and everything on the right page, we can build into a foundation and we can fix,’” Buriak said.
The foundation puts on events and provides direct support for families who may have experienced something similar to what Buriak did in 2021. Often, that comes in the form of basic necessities like childcare and getting groceries. Depending on the situation, the foundation may try to fundraise for a particular cause or family.
The inspiration behind holding a physical challenge came from James Buriak, otherwise known as Jimmy, who was big into CrossFit, according to Buriak.
“Right after the mishap, we did a really big Loosefoot 616 memorial WOD [workout of the day] here in San Diego,” Buriak said. “And it had a really good turnout … So I knew I wanted to do something every year that was physical.”
After the success of the CrossFit WOD, Buriak thought bigger. What if she tried to get people together for a memorial run? Running is more common than CrossFit, after all. Originally, she planned for it to be an event comprising 30-50 participants, but it grew much more than Buriak suspected it would. Last year’s memorial run had 120 in-person participants, according to Matt Bettencourt, the event coordinator.
Buriak said she hopes for the events to be a space in which people can rally around each other, and share about those they’ve lost.
Buriak said her favorite part of the race is bringing everybody together and seeing everyone out there with their Loosefoot 616 shirts on, laughing, smiling and telling stories.
