Runners gather in memory of fallen soldier - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

A group of local runners gatheredthis morning at Memorial Park to salute Navy Seal Jon "JT" Tumilsonwith a memorial run.

Tumilson was a member of Navy SEALTeam Six and was killed in action last August among 30 other Americanservice-members when insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan.

Renee Howard was a friend of JT andhelped organize the run in coordination with his family in Iowa.

"He was from Iowaand his family in Iowais also doing the run.  And they let us get a group of friends together tohonor him and raise more money for his foundation.  The money wasoriginally going to a statue in his memory in Iowa, but we've already raised thosefunds, so the money will go to scholarships and other charitable organizations."

Howard said they chose to run becauserunning and working out is one thing JT was known for.

"He'd go run 20-30 milesa day just to warm up and he loved triathlons."

Brad Vick was also a friend of JT'sand helped organize the run.

"I've got a good story aboutJT….he had a lot of tattoos down his arms and on his legs and we were outat the ranch hanging out and my daughter at the time was about 3 years old andwalked up to him and asked, ‘why did you color on yourself? You'rein trouble!' And JT said, ‘It's okay you can color on me.'And there they went…coloring and having fun and that's just thekind of guy he was."

JT's friends and family hopeto do the memorial run every year in Houstonand around the country.

On the Web:

Jon Thomas Tumilson Memorial Page -- http://3minutesout.org/index.shtml