Advertisement The event started back in February 2005 as a student-organized walk to help Onalaska High School drivers ed teacher Jay Flury, who was sidelined for much of the year as he went through cancer treatment.
The first year the weather was pretty nice, but the second and third years — when the fundraisers were dedicated to Mitch Maxey and the Myrick Park Ecopark project, respectively — were not so hot.
So this year, the decision was made to move the event from February to April, when there’s a better chance of having weather conducive to a 2.2-mile run/walk outdoors. And McIlquham said he thinks it’s likely that the event will stay in April.
It’s no accident, either, that the run/walk is the day before the much older American Cancer Society United HealthCare 5K Family Run/Walk. The idea was to make the third weekend in April a weekend dedicated to fitness and raising money for good causes.
This year, the money raised in the McFlury Run/Walk will be dedicated to Mike Johnson, an Onalaska man who has been a volunteer basketball and volleyball coach at St. Patrick School and for the Onalaska High School volleyball team.
Johnson, whose son Brian is a senior this year at OHS, is fighting pancreatic cancer. He also has a daughter, Laura, who graduated from OHS and is now a junior at Marquette University studying nursing.
“It was pretty unanimous about wanting to help him out,” McIlquham said. “He’s one of the nicest men I’ve ever met, and he has to be one of the nicest coaches I’ve ever seen.”
Johnson had kept kind of quiet about his cancer, so the McFlury Run/Walk has helped spread some awareness, too, McIlquham said. “A lot of people didn’t even know he had this condition,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Thank you for doing this. I didn’t even know he was sick.’”
For his part, Johnson was overwhelmed by the gesture when his wife of almost 30 years, Leta, told him about it. “I had to sit down. I just couldn’t believe it at first,” he said. “It’s such an honor.”
A 1973 OHS graduate, Johnson has lived in Onalaska all his life. He worked on the railroad for seven years and had 22 years in at Fleming Foods when the company folded. After that he installed furnaces for a time and was working at D.S. Electric when his cancer was discovered in late December.
The tumor is inoperable, but Johnson is optimistic about the success of his chemotherapy. “I’ve got a really good attitude, and I think we can beat this. I really do,” he said.
Between rounds of chemotherapy, Johnson said he’s been feeling pretty good. He’s planning to be there for the event on Saturday, but he’s not sure how he’ll be able to express his appreciation.
“I’m just so overwhelmed by it right now,” Johnson said. “These kids are doing a marvelous job of organizing the whole thing at school.”
The students who organize the event make the decision on the beneficiary, and this year there are even more students involved than ever. It started as an event put together by members of Students Against Dangerous Decisions and the Teen AIDS Prevention Program, but this year five more groups have joined the effort: Student Council, DECA, Future Business Leaders of America, O-Club and National Honor Society.
“For next year I heard Ujima wants to get involved,” said McIlquham, referring to a student organization devoted to promoting diversity and tolerance.
The first year of the event it was known as the Flury Run/Walk, in honor of the teacher. But Flury wasn’t comfortable being the namesake for the event year after year, so they decided to honor one of the major sponsors, McDonald’s, by naming it after the restaurant’s McFlurry, a blended ice cream. That was fine with McDonald’s as long as the run/walk dropped an “R.”
This year, people who pay the $10 entry fee will get a T-shirt, a coupon for a Frosty from Wendy’s, granola bars, bananas, water and, for the first 400 finishers, a coupon for a McFlurry from McDonald’s.
The goal this year is to draw 500 participants, and McIlquham said that looks within reach.
AT A GLANCE
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