Francisco's AIDS Marathon Update--July10, 2006

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends and Sponsors:

Yesterday, July 9th, 2006 was the final distance run before I will

run the SF Marathon on July 30th, 2006.

Before the run, we had a pep talk from a representative of Mayor

Gavin Newsom's office. Then we had a moment of silence for those

lost to AIDS. It was very moving, as the hundreds of runners, the

water volunteers, and the AIDS Marathon Training Program Staff stood

in the silence of the beauty of Golden Gate Park. The only sounds

that could be heard were the waves breaking at Ocean Beach and the

breeze through the trees. In keeping with the National AIDS Marathon

Training Program tradition, all the runners were invited to call out

the names of friends, family and loved ones lost to AIDS.

One by one, names were called out; I called out two names—that of a

friend and of my cousin. I was also thinking of my dear friends who

are living with HIV. I'm so thankful for the medications and social

services that allow them to contribute to life the way they do. They

inspire me. You could hear the unexpected sorrow in the voices as a

wave of emotion came over all gathered there. Name after name.

Voices calling out in the early morning quiet. Then silence fell

again. The sound of the waves and the sea breeze was accompanied by

deep breaths and sniffles. It really brought home to all of us why

we're running. I certainly didn't expect to have tears in my eyes

right before the run.

Then our program rep got us pumped up for the run by doing a

cheer/song which had all of us laughing. Mayor Newsom's

representative was clearly amazed by the energy of the group at 7 AM

on a Sunday morning. Then we all let out a big " woo hoo! " , and we

were off.

The course was a highlight of some of our most beautiful runs:

Golden Gate Park, the Panhandle, the Avenues, the Sunset, the

Presidio and we even ran across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was truly

a great run. We had the option of running 20, 23 or 26 miles.

I wanted to run the full 26, but at mile 22, after 5 hours and 5

minutes of running, my left knee was hurting, so one of the coaches

and I decided that I should stop so that I'll be ready for Marathon

Sunday at the end of the month.

A special thank you to all my sponsors: Lam, Mona

Wentling, Valley Relocation & Storage, Atlantis Black, Tamra Doughty,

lba Peña, Gemma Nimedez Arbas, Steve Blow, Hilda Losada,

Weiss, Vizoso, Al Carbonetti, Ron Hagar, Ron Roberson, Peggy

Moser, Kaiser, G Agar, Peggy Zavala, Kathy Pelayo,

Gordon Sexton, Camozzi, Lyle Burkard, Shadow Morton, Joe Iser,

Esther , Wagner, Janet Yabut-Balolong, Roman,

Desimone, Benita , Dueñas, Barbara Hillis,

Warren Boyd, Ma, Serrano, Leo Fernandez, Norah Ojeda,

Ernesto Andalis, & Joyce Caravayo, Steve Drew, Craig Olson,

Bill Alan Tyler, Bradley , Blaine, Pezzi,

Saint , Francis, Andreí Boulware, Jerrie Landry, Sylvia

Craig, Tessie Mandeville, & Weibezahn.

My total sponsorship funds raised: $2,895.00

Total SF National AIDS Marathon Training Program 2006: $908,568.00

I couldn't do this without your support! I'll be thinking of all of

you who made this dream a reality when I cross the finish line.

Francisco Caravayo

2005 Half Marathon Finisher

Loser of 153 lbs

Winner of a new life