West Melbourne 5K Will Honor Fallen Air Force Staff Sergeant's Legacy
The first iRun4Karun 5K will honor Staff Sgt. Tristen Karun Wright on August 15 while supporting youth mentorship and assistance for veteran families.
A new West Melbourne 5K will turn an August morning into a tribute to a Palm Bay airman whose family is carrying his commitment to service forward.
The first iRun4Karun 5K is scheduled for Saturday, August 15, at 8 a.m. at Max K. Rodes Park. The run and walk honors U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tristen Karun Wright, a Heritage High School graduate who died while deployed overseas in 2024.
Registration is listed at $20, with proceeds supporting the Tristen Karun Wright Memorial Foundation's work for local young people and veteran families.
Remembering Tristen Wright
Wright grew up in Palm Bay and graduated from Heritage High School in 2015. He completed the school's Sports Medicine Academy program and was its first Black homecoming king.
He continued his education through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and served in the Air Force as a materiel management specialist with the 27th Special Operations Logistics Readiness Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base.
His military decorations included the Air and Space Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal.
Wright died on August 15, 2024, while deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He was 28.
Later that year, the City of Palm Bay selected his parents, Ricky and Novolia Wright, and his sister, Demyia Biggs, as grand marshals of the city's Veterans Day Parade. The honor gave the community a public opportunity to recognize both his service and the family carrying his memory.
A foundation built around continuing the work
The Tristen Karun Wright Memorial Foundation is directing race proceeds toward youth mentorship and support for veteran families.
Those two priorities connect the event to more than remembrance. A memorial run looks backward for a morning, but the money it raises is intended to move outward—to a young person who needs guidance or a military family that needs practical help.
The foundation has not published a widely indexed standalone registration page, so runners should verify sign-up and packet details through the organizer's current announcement before making plans.
Race details
- What: iRun4Karun 5K run/walk
- When: Saturday, August 15, 2026, at 8 a.m.
- Where: Max K. Rodes Park, 3410 Flanagan Avenue in West Melbourne
- Listed entry fee: $20
- Benefits: Tristen Karun Wright Memorial Foundation youth-mentorship and veteran-family programs
Because this is the inaugural event, participants should confirm day-of registration, packet pickup and the exact course with the foundation or organizer before arriving.
A local way to say his name
A 5K cannot sum up a life, and it is not supposed to. It gives people a place to gather, move together and support something that continues after the finish line.
For a Palm Bay graduate who served his country and died far from home, that kind of morning feels especially fitting: local families, veterans and runners showing up in the same park, saying his name and helping the causes his family chose in his honor.
Sources and useful links
Claire Szewczyk
Claire has called Florida home for a decade, but her love of the Space Coast goes back further — to the beat-up Kennedy Space Center coffee table book she found in a thrift store when she was five. She writes about the people, places, and history that make Brevard County great, and those stories are where Brightside Brevard began.
