LA Kings 5K raises money and memories for long-time fans

Just before daylight poked its way through the marine layer in Redondo Beach on Saturday, Sept. 14, families and friends made their way to Riviera Village for the LA Kings 5K Run/Walk.

Karen Ellis, who is no stranger to an early weekend morning wake-up, waded through the crowd with her husband to find her parents.

Ellis was never into sports growing up. Her dad was a runner and her sister followed in his path. As Ellis watched her father run the LA Marathon, turning the corner with a huge smile on his face, she decided things looked a lot more fun on the course than on the sidelines. Ellis began running in 1995 and has not looked back since.

On Sunday mornings, she drives from her home north of the 101 to Hermosa Beach to participate in the Daryl Evans Run Club. The Run Club, a way for Evans to interact with Kings fans while sharing his passion for running, had its first meeting in 2015 and has since become ritualistic for many Kings fans, including Ellis.

“I always ran by myself, I was too nervous to run with Daryl,” Ellis said. “But he is so positive and encouraging, I finally got the courage to run alongside him, and now sometimes it’s just him and I at the front of the pack.”

When the Daryl Evans Run Club first formed, there were over 50 people participating. While the numbers have fluctuated over the years, a core group has stuck with it, including Ellis. Her parents, now mostly walkers, also participate.

Long before the inception of the Run Club, the LA Kings and Kings alum, Daryl Evans, hosted the first 5K Run/Walk in 2002. The event raised money for the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. In the earlier years, the race took place in Downtown Los Angeles, outside of The Staples Center, home of the Kings. The race has changed locations a few times,but for the past 10 years, Redondo Beach has been its home. Now in its 22nd year, the fundraising from the run supports the Kings Care Foundation and additionally, the Walk supports the Hydrocephalus Foundation, raising more than $124,000 in total towards the Kings Care Foundation.

Around 7:00 a.m., one hour before the race commenced, Riviera Village quickly became a sea of Kings hats, shirts, and jerseys. The 5K, unofficially considered as the launch of the Kings season, reunited fans and had the largest attendance in history. Evans appreciates the event’s growth.

“Being able to bring this group together, and see the way it’s growing is really amazing,” Evans said. “We are helping a lot of good causes, and it’s the first event of the season…all the hockey fans love to come together to reunite and build new relationships.”

Tim Wilkinson has been a fan of the Kings since the Gretzky era. In 1994, he took Ellis to her first game when they were just 19 years old. In what one can only assume was an attempt to impress her, Wilkinson secured tickets directly behind the opposing bench. Ellis enjoyed herself but admitted she didn’t go to many games after that. However, she continued to follow the Kings and started going much more consistently during the 2002-2003 season. The same season Karen and Tim were married.

In 2005, Karen and Tim became LA Kings Season Ticket Members in one of the Dave Taylor Diehard sections, for $10 per ticket. Since 2005, they have attended countless events hosted by the organization and look forward to meeting the players every season. Ellis, who quickly became a fan of Ian Laperriere during his time with the Kings, has used his stats in the math classes she teaches at Loyola Marymount University.

With just 10 minutes remaining before the runners lined up at the starting line, Evans welcomed current Kings players to the stage and introduced them to an uproaring crowd. Returning favorite, Trevor Lewis, received an extra cheer and California native Trevor Moore was very well welcomed.

Alternate Captain, Phillip Danault, felt the excitement from the fans and appreciated the support.

“There is no better start of the hockey season, a great charity, a great event…it’s fun,” Danault said. “It’s early in the morning, but everyone is so hyped up and everyone is so happy to be here, it means a lot.”

As LA Kings in-arena host Mikey Alexander began the one-minute countdown to the start of the race, Evans weaved his way through fans to the starting line. Ellis found her place amongst her Run Club friends and adjusted her race bib.

With no plans to stop participating in the event, she even met with Daryl for a socially distanced version of the 5K, the year it was canceled in 2020. Despite winning her age group in other years, Ellis enjoys the camaraderie of Kings fans the most and has collected the commemorative shirts since 2002. Ellis appears shy to many at first, but when asked what she is most looking forward to this season, spoken like a true Kings fan, she laughed and said, “redemption from last season.”