"We want 1 million African Americans to get tested by June 27, 2009, whichis National HIV Testing Day," says Sacco, 26, who came up with the idea tocombine his love of running with the need for HIV/AIDS awareness.
"Run in a Million" as this quest is called, is a part of a larger "Test 1Million" campaign sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute in partnership withthe Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and RadioArtists (AFTRA), and other leading national black organizations.
The Institute is sponsoring the Run in a Million that started Dec. 1 atthe San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge and ended at NIKETOWN in Los Angeles onDec. 14. Nike is providing all running gear and accessories for both men.
"When Mike told me about his idea, I thought, that is awesome," saidBoudreaux, 30, who is in the Air Force. "I couldn't think of anything betterthan to combine my joy of running and my desire to do something aboutHIV/AIDS. It seems like these days everyone is waiting for the next big thing.People forget about the power of one. One person can make a difference."
HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects African Americans in the UnitedStates, according to latest statistics from the CDC. Nearly half of theestimated 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS are black and 54 percentof all new HIV infections in the United States are among black Americans.
"When Mike first walked into my office, I thought "wow, here is a whiteguy who understands that the AIDS epidemic is not over and we all have a moralepidemic to do everything in our power to fight this deadly disease until itis over," said Phill Wilson, founder and executive director of the Black AIDSInstitute.
Wilson and an A-list of black celebrities, who took public HIV tests,kicked-off the Test 1 Million campaign during a news conference this past Juneat the SAG headquarters. Celebrities included Regina King, Jimmy Jean Louisand Vanessa Williams.
Sacco and Boudreaux, like human billboards, are wearing Test 1 MillionT-shirts, and are being accompanied by a pace car outfitted with the Test1 Million logo.
"It has been a dream of mine to run from the Bay area to Los Angeles,"Sacco said.
However, he said, he wasn't aware the dream would come with so manychallenges.
The men are running anywhere from 26.2 miles, the regulation marathon, toup to 50 miles per day.
The trip is arduous and hard on the body, the fellows say in their dailyblog http://www.myspace.com/runinamillion. Each night, they retire to an icebath to ease some of the pain in aching limbs.
"The usual [daily] self-inflicted torture of bathing in ice came soonafter our run. I'm beginning to really despise the ice bath," Sacco wrote onDec. 4. "In fact, if anyone ever wanted to know any deep secrets, all theywould have to do is put me in a tub of ice water and I would tell themanything they wanted to know. 30 plus miles of running is much less painfulthan 15 minutes spent in the freezing cold bath."
After stopping for dinner at a local restaurant, the two men joked aboutthe pain in the fingertips as they hobbled to the car.
Other runners have been joining the men on various legs of the event.Rounding out the running team on selected days has been world-renowned,ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes.
So far along the way they've encountered growling dogs, drivers speeding70 mph along curving roads in the rain and tons of debris spewed along theroadside. They've also encountered seals and good Samaritans.
In some cities, volunteers from local AIDS service organizations greet therunners. Monterey County AIDS Projec
