AIDS TREK
Supporters of AIDS patients in the Long Beach area seem to be a bit out of shape.
Organizers of the city’s annual AIDS Walk have decided to cut their route in half this year in response to complaints from participants. Instead of walking 6.2 miles, entrants will only be asked to go 3.1 miles.
“People were complaining,” said Ellen Ward, executive director of the downtown Long Beach event that is in its eighth year. “Many of them only walk once a year.”
The change shouldn’t affect the amount of money raised, Ward said, because individual sponsors usually pledge a flat sum instead of a per-mile rate. In fact, the director said, organizers hope to exceed their fund-raising record of $225,000, all of which is then donated to area AIDS agencies, support centers and hospices.
The April 21 event will begin and end at the Downtown Promenade, rather than following the coastline as it has since 1988.
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