Sweating and doing good at the same time: sporting activity in support of AIDS aid organisations has been common practice in many cities for many years. The idea of the Aids Walk originated in the USA. The New Yorkers will be walking for the 25th time on 16 May.
1986 was an important year for the gay community, which had been hit hard by the AIDS crisis. The very first nationwide positive meeting took place in Germany. And finally, statistical analyses provided certainty about which sexual practices were risky and which were safe. A first safer sex guide takes away a large part of the fear. At the same time in New York, 26-year-old Craig Miller begins preparations for an event that he had no idea would one day become the world's largest and most important charity event in the fight against AIDS.
For the first AIDS Walk in New York, Miller and his team immediately brought together several thousand walkers. The participation fees and donations were to be used to support the self-help organisation "Gay Men's Health Crisis", which had only been founded a few years earlier.
The poorly developed healthcare system in the USA made it essential to organise resources in creative ways. Politicians and health authorities were also slow to react to the threat of HIV. Ronald Reagan had never even uttered the word "AIDS" in public. But time was pressing, gay men put on their running shoes and ran, panting and sweating, through Central Park and the neighbouring street canyons to the West End and back again.
A total of 105 million US dollars has been collected so far, and last year a record sum of 5.6 million dollars was raised by the 45,000 participants.
The 25th edition of the New York run is particularly characterised by looking back. A video commemorates fellow campaigners and supporters. And, of course, prominent people who died as a result of Aids. For example, the face of graffiti artist Keith Haring will be seen particularly frequently on 16 May. The Keith Haring Foundation, which looks after the artistic legacy of the artist who died in 1991, has brought out a limited edition T-shirt with a portrait of the sprayer. Anyone who joins the foundation's running team with a minimum donation of 50 dollars can sweat all over the shirt.
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Website of the Aids Walk NY
YouTube video on the history of the Aids Walk
