The Colorado Avalanche hosted their first “Avs 5k” this past Saturday, successfully raising money for Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation.
Showing up to the inaugural Colorado Avalanche Avs 5k was not an easy task for me. After partaking in too many Moscow Mules the night before, I groggily made my way to the Pepsi Center around 6am to atone for last night’s sins.
When I arrived, I found a gathering of the worst sort of people: morning people — with their wide smiles, zeal for life, and excitement at the prospect of doing something healthy before the friggin’ sun had even risen. I feared I would be paying tribute to the porcelain throne before the race even began.
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“I’m one of these people now”, I had to tell myself, as I pinned my bib to my favorite Colorado Avalanche hoodie, “This is ‘good’ for me”.
As I tried to calm my stomach with the last sip of Gatorade, the skaters lined up at the starting line behind Bernie, also on skates.
Beautiful morning at Pepsi Center for the #Avs 5K! pic.twitter.com/NFwggmq8H8
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 8, 2016
The course itself went through several of the Pepsi Center parking lots for the first two miles, before looping back to the Pepsi Center. Runners and walkers then ran up the steps, did three laps around the concourse, and ran back down to the finish. The skaters took an alternate path.
I got off to a quick start, but soon realized I needed to pace myself better.
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After powering through the rest of the race (vomit-free, I might add), we were greeted by snacks, water, and former Avs Captain, Milan Hejduk.
Milan and I talked a bunch, and soon became best friends. I totally got his number, and the two of us are totally hanging out next week. He said he really loves all of my posts, and follows me on Twitter. This is a true story, I promise. I did not just stand off to the side in awe of one of the greatest Avs of all time.*
*Disclaimer: The above story may not actually be true. Mark may have stood off to the side in awe of one of the greatest Avs of all time.
My favorite part of the event, though, was that the 5k went towards helping the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation. According to the Dawg Nation website:
The Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation exists for one reason, to help adult hockey players and their families in times of crises due to catastrophic injury or illness.
Part of each registration for the 5k went towards helping the Dawg Nation achieve its mission. As a recreation hockey player myself, it’s nice to know that an organization has my back should I go down with an injury.
Oh, and there was this adorable puppy:
I made a new best friend at the @Avalanche #5k everybody meet Watson! 🐶💯😍 pic.twitter.com/TTMqoHzyem
— Bernie (@AvsBernie) October 8, 2016
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