Friends and family honor Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau at the inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K

With gray clouds covering the horizon and rain slowly beginning to hit the pavement at Washington Lake Park, it began to look as though the inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K would get its start in the middle of a storm.

Runners did their best to prepare, looking for shelter under tents as they zipped up their raincoats and tightened their shoelaces. But as the opening ceremonies took place, before Lauren Hart took the stage to sing the national anthem, the skies began to clear up, rain began to slow down, and a rainbow overlooked the park in Sewell, N.J.

“I was a little worried about the rain in the morning, but something tells me that Johnny and Matthew had a little part in the sun coming out,” said participant John Martino, from Marlton. “It’s a beautiful day, I’m glad everything stayed that way.”

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Martino, 27, grew up playing hockey. He always looked up to the Gaudreau brothers for their impact both on and off the ice. He knew he had to show his support after learning about the event a month ago through Instagram.

“Growing up a hockey player in this area, they were the standard,” Martino said of the brothers who played at Boston College, with Johnny going onto NHL stardom. “It would have felt wrong not to be here to support. Just the impact these two had on the hockey community, that’s something that’s going to be felt forever.”

Wearing a Johnny Gaudreau Columbus Blue Jackets jersey, Martino stood at the finish line and celebrated with runners, high-fiving strangers as they ran by.

“I just feel like it’s the Johnny and Matty spirit to be here at the end, congratulating everyone, thanking them for their support and coming out,” Martino said. “It’s a way to reflect a little piece of them to each runner who took their time to support them. I think it’s only the right way. Only the Gaudreau way.”

One of those runners who crossed the finish line earlier that day was Guy Gaudreau, the father of Johnny and Matthew, who both tragically died last Aug. 29 after being struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles near their family’s home in Salem County.

The elder Gaudreau participated in both the competitive and noncompetitive races, running in the first and walking the second. In his bright orange shirt for the competitive 5K, he crossed the finish line and embraced his wife, Jane, in a long hug as tears rolled down his face.

“We cry a lot, so she was happy I finished,” the patriarch said. “We have a very close family, right? And we lost the two big parts of our family and we have to figure out how to move on from here. It’s hard.

“All my life, I’ve been a runner. But when the accident happened, I hadn’t run in quite a while. John and Matt want me out here. It was hard. Not the running part. The emotional part was very hard. You know, I miss them, but what can I do? I know they would want me to be out here. So, I ran.”

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As he made his way to the starting line for his second race, community members continued to approach the longtime South Jersey hockey coach, telling him just how much both Johnny and Matty meant to them.

“That’s probably what I’m proudest about [with] the two boys,” he said. “Not their accomplishments as athletes but as young men, and when people come up to you and tell you how great they are. As we see them at home, we don’t think they’re so great at home. But when you get out in public, everything we taught them they really took it in.”

Guy, Jane, their daughter, Katie, and her fiance, Devin Joyce, participated in the noncompetitive 5K. The event also included appearances from NHL players Erik Gudbranson, Buddy Robinson, Brady Tkachuk, Tony DeAngelo and Zach Aston-Reese. The players stood on stage as they awarded top racers with hockey sticks.

The proceeds from the event will go toward an adaptive playground for students with multiple disabilities at Archbishop Damiano School in honor of John and Matthew. Guy hopes the Gaudreau family 5K can become a new tradition for the community.

“The actual committee are all kids’ parents that our kids John and Matt played hockey with their sons and are good friends. So, they want to do it every year,” the elder Gaudreau said. “They probably should have had a bigger course, more room for people, because we sold out within three weeks.

“But yea, they’re going to do it again next year. Hopefully, we get the same numbers and we’ll get the playground built this year and then next year we’re going to work on money for kids that can’t play hockey or afford to play hockey and then give money to Gloucester Catholic, where the boys went.”