Bob Brown was a coach, a mentor, a friend, a father, a husband. He was a great man. The former Regina cross country coach, who I knew when I was sports editor of the Press-Citizen, died Sunday at age 65. He had pancreatic cancer and suffered a long time.
He was a great coach -- a man I can look up to as a role model. I really don't know if Bob was a runner, maybe a jogger. But it doesn't matter. His Regina teams won several state titles, and I think there is one reason. The kids cared about Bob Brown. He's one of those guys you will remember a long time. He inspired kids. He's the kind of coach and teacher I want to be. I want to be a teacher and coach who knows and cares more about people he teaches than the material he teaches. That was Bob Brown.
I remember before I ran my marathon in 1994, Bob sent me Jeff Galloway's run-walk plan for a marathon. He cared enough about me to do that. He wanted me to succeed. He loved talking about track and cross country with me because he knew I was a reporter who cared about it. He handled his teams and his kids with great care -- even all the way to the media's reportage.
As I write about Bob, I also think about my old high school coaches -- both special men who became disabled later in their lives. They are saints to me. They (and my mother) instilled in me this desire to always better. That started with high school track and cross country. It continued with my entire life.
It is in these men's images -- Bob included -- that I push forward with my running goals. And ultimately my life goals.
"It's not one thing that he did or said, it was how he lived his life." -- Regina cross country coach Chad Swope, who took over for Bob Brown
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