Johnson run honors former Post Falls teen
<p>A youngster looks back at a poster of Jordan Johnson near the start of the second Jordan Johnson Memorial Fun Run and Walk, which starts at the Greyhound Park, connects with the Centennial Trail, and heads back to the park.</p>
<p>Runners take off near the start of the second annual Jordan Johnson Memorial Fun Run and Walk on Saturday in Post Falls.</p>
POST FALLS — The second Jordan Johnson Memorial Run at the Greyhound Park and Event Center saw 150 participants Saturday.
Organizers said the event provides the Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County with an opportunity to make people more aware of what the club does, and to honor Johnson, a former Post Falls High School student. He died at age 15 in 2006 of a heart ailment.
“At the club we’re trying to develop a community full of young people like Jordan,” said Ryan Davis, executive director of the club.
Johnson, who would have graduated high school last year, was a young person who cared about others and the community, and had goals for the future, Davis said Saturday.
Before the 5- and 10-kilometer races started, Davis told runners to remember Johnson and what he represented while they are out on the course, which had mile signs with Johnson’s picture.
“I was very pleased with the turnout,” Davis said. “We had a lot of high schoolers who walked and ran the course. It’s kind of a testament to who Jordan was, and what he meant to other students.”
He said the club will continue to work to grow and develop the fun run.
“We’re trying to honor Jordan the best way possible,” he said. “We’re so fortunate to have Cyndie (Johnson, Jordan’s mother) and the family’s support.”
The club currently operates at the Post Falls Church of the Nazarene, at 308 W. 12th Ave.
But it is raising money to build a new club facility, with 18,000 square feet of floor space, nearly triple what the club has now at the church.
Land and a building contractor have been selected.
The new club facility will allow for more members. There are currently about 500 members, ages 6 to 18. The number of members could go up to 1,500 at the new club facility.
The new facility will be called the Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County Jordan Johnson Center.
About $1.2 million is left to raise to begin construction, Davis said.
“The club is really growing,” Davis said.
There currently is a waiting list for membership.
Fun run participants paid $15 to register for the race, or $20 if they did so late, with proceeds going to benefit the club’s programs.