Los Angeles, Calif., February 26, 2008 – Among the registrants in the March 2 Los Angeles Marathon are 220 runners who have trained for six months and raised nearly half a million dollars for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles.

They are part the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, begun in 1999, which follows a training regimen developed by world-renowned runner and marathon trainer Jeff Galloway. A combination of running and walking, the program is geared toward experienced runners and beginners alike – anyone with the desire to make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS in his or her home city.

Los Angeles runners include:

• Joseph Valdez, 26, who is running in honor of his father, a longtime HIV survivor who lives in Sacramento.
• Andrew Rohrlich, a 16-year-old student at John Marshall High School who is running to raise awareness about AIDS.
• Alexandra Cunningham, a three-time marathoner and writer for "Desperate Housewives" who is running for her industry’s countless losses to AIDS.
• Marlene Boissel-Kottle, 65, an LAUSD employee and first-time marathoner who is running for her dentist, whose partner died of AIDS.
• Leslie Hunter of Culver City, who is running to get in shape for her girlfriend (who is currently serving in Iraq) and to honor her best friends, a gay couple who are both HIV-positive.
• Ed Dridge and Bill Murray, a Sherman Oaks couple running together; Ed has lost 80 pounds during his training.
  

In the past 10 years, more than 20,000 people have successfully completed the National AIDS Marathon Training Program and raised $80 million for the fight to end AIDS around the country. Locally, the program has raised nearly $20 million to support programs and services at AIDS Project Los Angeles, which include direct services such as food banks, dental clinics and home health care, along with comprehensive prevention education and policy work.

"This program is a public demonstration that people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS rely on their community for support," said Craig E. Thompson, the executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles and six-time AIDS marathoner. "These runners have risen at dawn and raised money in difficult financial times, while contributing in a major way to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles and beyond. They are truly heroes in the AIDS fight."

Los Angeles has the second-highest population of people with HIV/AIDS in the nation, with an estimated 60,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, as many as one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.

Information about the program is available at www.aidsmarathon.com.

AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Marking 25 years of service in 2008, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.