Most Memorable National Anthem.....

(Editor's note: this goes well with what Doug Tillet said about John’s willingness to help out whenever or whatever on the “open mic” following the service on Saturday, September 13)

During one of the Gate River Runs within the last ten years, there arose the need for a National Anthem performance. I’m not sure what happened - the designated singer didn’t show up or there was cd issue or whatever - but there was about to be no National Anthem before this Gate River Run. Except John was there. He got on the mic and started singing. It was the worst rendition I’ve heard and the crowd joined in to help out – by the time it was over it sounded like a large chorus was singing. That alone made it memorable, but, here’s the real funny part: during the post race party, John was roaming the crowd and asking if people had heard that “terrible singer doing the National Anthem before the race.”

And that definitely made it the most memorable National Anthem.

-J.C. Pinto

                                                                                           
John was primarily a ‘teacher’. Whether in the classroom or on the track coaching inner city kids or suburban slugs like me, we all learned and were better off having shared space on this planet with him. However, my fondest memory of John was not at the track or on the pavement. Since my daughter Courtney started running competitively at an early age (she too learned from him) John always asked about her every time we met. Just prior to the awards banquet this summer, many of us found out about John’s illness. At the banquet, several of us noticed that John had left the building and was sitting alone out by the river. A couple of us ventured out in shifts to sit with him. Of course the first words out of John’s mouth when I saw him were “How’s Courtney”. I proceeded to tell him that she had just graduated from college, was getting married and moving to Flagstaff AR. John then reminisced about his time in the Air Force in the Flagstaff area. He told me stories I can’t repeat here intertwined with words of wisdom that I will keep to myself. I left his company knowing that a moment like that would never happen again. I was both sad but honored that he opened up like that to me. He’ll truly be missed.

-David Hall

                                                                                           
I didn’t really know John, other than meeting him at an oyster roast, but I can say this: He was a fixture of running in our household. All three of my girls saw him at every single local race they ever ran starting back in middle school, not to mention the races they supported me at when they were even younger – that’s a lot of races! We had many a good laughs at his corny and sometimes off-color awards ceremony jokes on the way home from those races. He set an outstanding example on how to live being a steward for your sport, and I hope my daughters will continue to follow his footsteps.

-Charlotte Cooper

                                                                                           
Mine is not really a story, more an observation. I can’t really remember a Jacksonville road race at which John did not fire the cannon. One race in which I was only a spectator, I tried to convince John to let me fire the cannon, but he was having none of it! He was a cannon hog! However, from this point forward no one should ever fire that cannon without first paying homage to John TenBroeck.

Hey John......is it my turn?

-Keith Brantley

                                                                                           
I’ll remember John as being one of the first workers arriving at a race setting up equipment to make the race experience special for the participants; handing out timing chips, and being one of last workers cleaning and packing-up race equipment. He was also was a competitive runner in his day. John was all about serving the running community he did it all.

-Gary Corbitt

                                                                                           
John was a man of principle. Early in my coaching career I had my girls warming up a little late for a high school race. This turned into a lot late as race time neared. At some point we were all frantically running to the starting line as John was giving the final instructions. He glanced over at us sprinting up, turned to face the line and fired the gun without us. The girls ran right into the race! A teacher he was. My team has never been late to a start since.

-David Frank

                                                                                           
John was a major help at many races conducted by 1st Place Sports. He was the guy who headed up the day-of-race chip distribution, fired the cannon at the start, and most of the time was the MC at the awards ceremony. Those were all up front jobs where John could be seen. The one big job that John had handled for the last few years was guest runner airport transportation at the Gate River Run. Each year we bring in about fifty athletes. They have to be shuttled back and forth to the airport. John handled a majority of those trips. The trips could be at midnight on Thursday to 5 AM on a Sunday morning. John was always there. He never complained. He loved it!

John was also a major asset to JTC Running. His service was second to none. In addition to serving on the Exectivite Committee for almost every year he was on the board, he also picked up the mail from the Club's mailbox a couple of times a week, maintained the JTC website, keep the storage unit organized, and timed some of the clubs smaller events. Losing John will create a big hole to fill in the Jacksonville Running scene. It will probably take several people to step forward to take up the slack.

One of my best memories of John was at the Celebration run a couple of years ago. We arrived at the store to set up for the race. It was early and very dark. We decided to put the Powerade bottles on ice so that they would be really cold when the runners arrived. Our crew proceeded to put the bottles in the plastic swimming pools. To do this, you had to bend over and take the bottles out of the case. John was bending over in the dark putting the bottles in the pools when Jane and Ryann arrived. Jane parked the car in the back and walked up to the store. As she walked into the dark parking lot she thought she saw Doug bending over putting the bottles in the pool. Jane then walked up behind John thinking it was Doug and goosed him in the butt. Jane walked away and then heard John say, " I will give you thirty minutes to stop that". We all rolled in laughter.

We will miss you John.

-Doug Alred