If you wanted to see Dave Babych without his moustache, waiting 23 days after he shaved it off is far too late.
The former Vancouver Canucks defenceman, famous for his cookie duster of whiskers that still makes the National Hockey League’s list of all-time best moustaches, sat in the chair at Killjoy Barbers, Nov. 1 to mark his participation in Movember, the growing moustache movement that raises awareness for men’s cancer and mental illness.
“It wasn’t the first time I’ve had it shaved off but it only happened when I got a stick in the face and my lips were cut so they’d have to trim it up to stitch it up,” said Babych, who volunteered as grand marshall of Vancouver’s first ever Moustache Miler race last Saturday.
“Honestly, I don’t remember when the last time was I had it shaved off, could’ve been 20 years ago. It’s weird when you have one for so long, it’s a cool sensation, or even like a burning one. This skin hasn’t been exposed for a while.”
Moustaches from sparse to thick to drawn on or glued on were in abundance for the fun run held in Stanley Park. Almost 150 runners took part in the five kilometre tour around the seawall and park and were encouraged to wear costumes, all to raise money for Movember Canada by way of the $40 registration fee.
Organizers of the Moustache Miler bring with them expertise from their time with Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure.
Pulling the event together, along with Sophia Betegh and Dana Sebal, was Scott Johnson, who got into the spirit of the thing by pairing up his moustache with a Poison concert T-shirt and striped pajama paints, an outfit reminiscent of those who were fond of doing burn-outs in their Datsuns in high school parking lots during the 1980s.
“We’re trying to bring levity to an event to raise awareness to a disease that affects everyone. It’s sad and it’s heartbreaking,” said Johnson, who is no stranger to cancer, having beat it as a child as well as losing his mother to the disease.
Peter Verge, co-chair of Movember Vancouver, also has a history of cancer in his family, and likes to use the analogy of car ownership when it comes to how many men view their health.
“They hear something funny with the engine and will take it to the mechanic right away, but when it comes to their own health, they tend to ignore it.”
Movember started in Australia in the late 1990s by a group of men who decided to grow facial hair for charity, one of which was the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In the mid-2000s, another Australian group decided to organize its own event to raise awareness for prostate cancer, and it was this group that became the Movember Foundation. In 2007, the Movember craze reached Canada.
For Babych, bringing awareness to Movember is worth going without his trademark moustache for a couple of weeks.
“You know, it’s men’s fault because they don’t deal with issues as quickly as they should and deal with these problems before they become real serious problems,” he said.
“This is your health and you look after it. Because if you don’t have that, what do you have?”
The next race is Nov. 22, 2014.
Check out moustachemiler.ca for more information. See the Movember moustache photo gallery in the Vancouver Courier's community section. Contribute your own Movember pics through Instagram or Twitter by using the hashtag #movembervan.
