By Captain Kory Flowers
Jon Matthews joined the Greensboro Police Department in 2008, fresh after graduating from the University of South Carolina. As a highly promising and skilled young officer, he quickly made his mark within the agency, which consists of 650 officers. Jon was chosen for elite roles, including the Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, collaborating closely with U.S. Marshals to track down the most dangerous and sought-after suspects, as well as the department’s Special Response Team, a SWAT-like unit.
He began his journey up the career ladder, becoming a detective corporal in the Family Victims Unit. In this role, he was tasked with investigating domestic crimes, sexual offenses and cases involving children. Jon’s perpetually positive outlook and tireless dedication positively impacted every team he was part of. His influence on fellow officers was significant, making him a source of inspiration and motivation.
A vision of change
Then, Jon experienced a profound change in direction. In 2019, after deep reflection, he left the police force to become a full-time youth minister at one of Greensboro’s foundational churches. He flourished in his pastoral role for over a year, yet he never shed his desire to serve his community on the turbulent front lines of law enforcement. In mid-2020, amid the pandemic and the nationwide protests and unrest following George Floyd’s death, Jon felt compelled to return. He reapplied to the department, this time armed with a fresh and innovative idea.
From his time working in the church and the faith communities of Greensboro, Jon recognized a dire need. He envisioned creating a distinctive training program that would unite Greensboro’s first responders with young teenage men, guiding them toward responsible manhood. Jon recognized the importance of first responders connecting with the next generation of men, joining forces to pursue a common objective. This concept led to the creation of Run Well.
Uniting forces for good
Before his new duty belt and uniform were broken in properly, Jon assembled a small group of police officers to serve as the Board of Directors for the program, recruited 10 other exceptional first responders, applied for and was granted a 501C3 distinction, secured private donors, and began printing the first Run Well t-shirts.
One of the mentors developed a year-long curriculum to guide the weekly teaching sessions for the young men. The new group fostered cooperation from the local Boys and Girls Club to house the program as part of its after-school offerings for young men.
The basic idea was simple. One afternoon each week, for the entirety of a school year, 10 or more committed local Greensboro Police Department officers, firefighters and EMS providers would work out alongside the young men, share a meal together and teach about manhood. While the initial plan was extremely elementary, we could never have predicted its evolution.
Now, halfway through the third full year of Run Well, Jon is constantly blown away at what the program has become, and the incredible personal growth both in the lives of the young men who attend the program weekly, and the adult mentors who make Run Well happen.
The Run Well experience
The program is housed at Page High School, one of Greensboro’s historic flagship schools of nearly 1,400 students. Every Tuesday, right after dismissal at 4:30 p.m., dozens of energetic young men, each wearing a Run Well t-shirt or sweatshirt, file into the classroom. The energy in the room skyrockets during this weekly reunion, as chattering young men high-five, fist-bump and start impromptu push-up contests, all in anticipation of what this week’s workout might bring in a few short minutes.
Then the mentors arrive, many fresh off of their daily police shift, or before reporting to duty in a few short hours for the night watch. Vital connections ensue, with the dedicated first responders who know the young men each by name beginning their rounds of fist-bumps, bear hugs and head rubs.
Staccato conversations like “Marco, how did your test go?” and “Viktor, you still need that college recommendation letter?” are tossed around a room that is alive with energy. Jon then climbs atop a desk chair and announces the week’s workout, which involves a group run of 1.5 miles to the nearby police academy, and a regiment of pull-ups, push ups, burpees, a relay race of heavy tire drags and then the run back to the school. After reminding the young men about the annual mid-year 5k that Run Well sponsors at the winter break, which is only a few weeks away, the group bursts out of the classroom, runs down the hall and out into the cold winter air.
A Run Well mentor taps one of the young men to run the stretch routine for the group. By this time each year, the young men are comfortable with being tasked with leadership and added responsibility. Young Keyan, a high school senior, strides confidently into the center of the 35-man circle of both young men and mentors. He blasts through a brief, effective, disciplined routine of stretches, while the group shouts in unison, “Thousand one, thousand two, thousand three,” their voices echoing across the campus.
Building more than muscle
The workouts change each week, and while they are always designed to be increasingly more challenging, they are never predictable and almost always involve some type of competition.
One week each school year, the group visits a local revolutionary war battlefield, where they run the hallowed grounds, stopping to read the various historical markers and appreciate their city’s history. Of course, burpees, push ups and air squats are sprinkled along the shared miles.
Another favorite workout is the Mentor Rescue Race, which involves breaking the young men into teams, putting the mentors into tactical rescue stretchers, and tasking the young men with carrying their mentors as fast as possible, in a race across town. Onlookers, joggers and drivers gaze in amazement at the sight of packs of high school young men, all dressed alike in their red Run Well shirts, running while carrying what appears to be an injured patient down sidewalks and across streets, all while smiling and loving every minute.
Many weeks the workout is simply a circuit around campus, centered on dozens of pull-ups at the military-style pull-up rack, designed to accommodate as many as eight men at a time.
Oh, and about that pull-up rack; that was also a workout. In 2022 the Run Well leaders approached the school principal and asked if they could build a pull-up bar on campus permanently. Since the funds would be from Run Well donors, the principal immediately agreed. One Tuesday afternoon, the young men were split into various teams and tasked with building the rack, but with some challenges. The mentors had scattered 6x6 pressure-treated beams 12 feet long, 60-lb. bags of concrete and manual posthole diggers all over the campus. Less than an hour after unleashing the teams of young men to dig the five 3-foot deep holes for the posts and carry buckets of water (a hose would be far too easy for a Run Well workout), the structure was complete. Since then, our rack has supported tens of thousands of pull-ups each week.
Another highlight of the Run Well school year is “Shoe Day.” While the entire Run Well team consistently receives “swag” throughout the year including t-shirts, hats and hoodies, Shoe Day is the big deal. The group field trips to a local running store who partners with the program to provide their shoes at a reduced cost to the young men. Each young man’s feet are measured and analyzed by the store’s state of the art fitting system, and then the young men select their shoes, which are all top-tier running shoes from the nation’s top brands, provided for them completely by Run Well.
Back to today’s workout. Now properly stretched and ready to go, the gaggle of men dashes down the sidewalk, pounding out the 15-minute run to the police academy. Once there, the young men are led in more push ups, climbing the four-story fire/rescue tower, more burpees, then back down to the ground for a team competition of tire drags. Men, young and slightly older, push one another with words of encouragement and challenge. Now nearly 5:25 p.m. and almost dark, the group dashes back toward the school, skidding back into our classroom and back together at 5:45 p.m.
When the last man files in, mentors pass out the weekly shared meal: Chik-Fil-A sandwiches, water and the occasional chocolate chip cookie. Everyone pulls up a seat while the meal is blessed, and show proper respect for the week’s teaching. There is no texting, chatting, or phone scrolling.
Community and camaraderie
Mentors share the weekly teaching responsibilities, each focusing on one aspect of proper masculinity. Weekly teachings on respect, responsibility, assertiveness, toxic passivity, forgiveness and vision are but a few. Tonight’s lesson centers on ownership, and the mentor clearly challenges the young men, sweaty and exhausted, yet silent and attentive: “Life is not fair. The world is chaotic, not orderly. Men step into chaos, and bring order. Bring order where their once was chaos.” The room remains silent as the young men digest the message.
One young man in the previous year told the group, “I love coming to Run Well, because we don’t talk about this stuff at home.” A graduating Run Well senior in 2022 professed that he initially started coming to Run Well simply because his friends did, but after completing the year, the group had become like a family to him. The mentors challenge the young men, give them a vision for their life, and call them to voluntarily accept as much responsibility as they can manage. The young men hear things each week that they don’t hear elsewhere. They are strong. They are necessary. They are capable.
After ending the lesson, Jon stands, reminds the group one more time about the upcoming winter 5K, and then dismisses everyone. The young men grab a sandwich for the road, then file out, while the mentors often hang back to debrief the day. They discuss how one young man is truly beginning to learn what he’s capable of, or the absence of another beloved kid, or logistics for next week’s program.
As the year progresses, the group will complete the mid-year Christmas 5K extravaganza, and finally an end-of-year longer race. In 2021 Run Well completed a 10K road race in early June, in which some of the young men placed first in their age group. Last year Run Well traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, and slogged through the Savage Race, a nationally produced 10K obstacle course, complete with mud crawls, water challenges, climbing nets, and of course, running. The young men beamed with pride as they all filed into a local buffet on the way home, still coated with mud and sweat, having just completed the hardest physical task of their lives.
Run Well has garnered some local notoriety, as nothing of its kind exists. A yearlong school program for young men, completely free of charge, run by cops and other first responders that strives to take the raw material of young men and help lead them toward proper manhood, is truly one of a kind.
All from a cop-turned-pastor-turned cop’s vision, who looked into his community, saw a gap and wanted to fill it.
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About the author
Kory Flowers is a 24-year veteran captain with the Greensboro Police Department. Captain Flowers trains law enforcement officers nationwide on various subversive criminal groups, leadership and tactical communication, and has written articles and conducted interviews and podcasts for publications including Police Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Southern Poverty Law Center and National Public Radio. He is a frequent guest on the Street Cop Podcast and guest television host on On Patrol Live.