David Munar is putting his feet where his mouth has been for more than a decade. Put another way, this AIDS activist talks the talk,
and now he's going to run the run.
Munar, associate director of AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC), is among hundreds of people participating in the first year of the
Chicago arm of the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. Chicagoans will be training for potential marathons in Chicago and
Dublin, Ireland; all proceeds will benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's grantmaking programs.
We know what you're thinking: another national company producing local AIDS benefits—what's the risk, what are the costs?
Munar and Ginger Williams, associate program director for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, explained that because
they are not actually producing events, the overhead expenses and risks for agencies is lower.
Munar said AFC has been investigating the AIDS Marathon Training Program for two years, especially keeping in contact with
programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The average return to the non-profits is just under 60%—and this
depends on the total number of participants.
The concept is this: The national group hires local experts to run a six-month training program for amateurs and experienced
runners. In turn, runners pay a fee for the training, and they also gather pledges for the actual marathons they are running.
Other non-profits do similar pledge piggybacking with the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, so AFC will be among many non-
profits who can benefit from an existing event without incurring the overhead of planning their own—which is what occurred with the
very expensive, and now defunct, national AIDS Rides system.
The initial deadline for sign-ups is fast approaching, with the actual marathons Oct. 27 in Dublin, and Oct. 12 in Chicago. Info is
online at www.aidsmarathon.com . Training starts April 26, with several city and suburban start points to choose from.
Call (312) 765-0210.