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Laraque dedicates run to Boogaard
By
BENOIT RIOUX, QMI Agency
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Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque said Saturday that he ran a Montreal to Mont-Tremblant race in memory of Derek Boogaard, a fellow NHL tough guy who was found dead on Friday.
"I'm in total shock I will dedicate my 42km run to him," Laraque said on the micro-blogging website Twitter of the training race that leads up to a run between Montreal and New York in June. "Love you my man."
It was easy to gauge Laraque's state of mind based on the series of Twitter messages he posted between Friday night and Saturday.
"I'm still devastated over the death of Derek Boogaard," he wrote on the social networking site. "I talked to him a couple days ago and was suppose to train fight with him this summer.
"Life sometimes is just so unfair!"
Laraque, who split the race into eight-kilometre chunks and ran as part of a team, spoke of Boogaard throughout the race.
"I just did my first 8km relay lot of hills took 45 min not bad for 280 pounds 5 more relay to do that was for you Derek Boogaard."
Laraque tweeted his condolences to the Boogaard family Friday night, and called Boogaard "the toughest guy in the NHL, my friend and biggest rival."
Following Saturday's run, Laraque said it had been the biggest physical challenge of his career, especially as he weighs in at 280 lbs.
"Derek must have helped me with my race," he also posted. "I did the 42 kilometres for you, Derek!"
Laraque also started an online memorial for Boogaard, encouraging people to "re-tweet" messages about the late player.
