Run to honour Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau

Jane and Guy Gaudreau will tell us about the 1st Annual Gaudreau Family 5K Run Walk and Family Day Event taking place next weekend

A special event in memory of two hockey stars taken too soon will be held at the end of May in New Jersey.

However, supporters can participate in the event honouring Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau without needing to travel to the pair’s home state.

Jane and Guy Gaudreau, Johnny and Matthew’s parents, said the event was inspired by one of the coping mechanisms for their grief.

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“One of them was to get a project,” Jane said.

The family already had some campaigns underway, notably donations to a local playground, but they also came up with the idea of a five-kilometre run.

“We’ll honour the boys and give a time for everyone to come together eight or nine months after the accident. We thought there would be about 100 people there and we could see them and thank them for all the things they’ve done for us,” she said.

The physical event was sold out in just a short time, so Jane was presented with the idea of making the run a virtual event so anyone around the world could take part.

“I didn’t realize how important it was to so many people in Calgary.”

The couple says they’ve been taking each day one at a time since losing their boys.

“Grief is hard,” said Jane. “I think it’s a little different when it’s your children.

“Some days are okay (and) some days you’ll get a memory or some type of trigger or something that will kind of set you back.”

Around this time of year, Jane says the family would be meeting up with Johnny and Matthew when they came back home after the hockey season, so it’s been especially difficult, but they know they’ll have support with the run.

An in-person run, including Jane and Guy Gaudreau, is expected to be organized in the future.

Signups are still open for the first annual event for May 31, held virtually in Calgary.