Washington Blade - November 5, 2004
Dan Avery

By then, though, artist Chet Holcomb has brushed his teeth, guzzled his morning coffee and hit the pavement - literally. Several times a week, come rain or shine, he jogs up to six miles around Dupont Circle, Georgetown or the National Mall.

It's all part of his training. This Sunday, Holcomb plans to join 35,000 entrants in the 35th annual New York City Marathon. The 26.2-mile event takes runners through all five of the city's boroughs, beginning in Staten Island and ending at the finish line near Central Park's Tavern on the Green.

It's a test of speed and endurance for everyone who enters, but Holcomb, 38, has an especially good reason to push himself. He's running to raise money for Whitman-Walker Clinic, the area's largest AIDS service organization and for people, like himself, who are HIV-positive.

A professional artist, Holcomb first became interested in marathon running when he and a friend were talking about quitting smoking and adopting healthier habits in general. He had seen brochures for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, which trains runners raising money for AIDS service organizations, and decided to enroll. After running in the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 and 2003, he decided to enter the New York race.

Richard Zeichik, director of the Marathon Training Program at Whitman-Walker, describes Holcomb as a role model for others.

"Chet is really an inspiration around here. He's showing people that they can lead a normal life by taking their meds and keeping their bodies healthy," Zeichik says. "He's raised $6,000 for the clinic so far and has brought other people in."

Created in 1998, Whitman-Walker's training program has collected more than $15 million locally and is the clinic's largest fund-raiser. Training starts six months prior to a race and involves weekday solo runs and weekend group runs of increasing intensity.

As race day approaches, Holcomb continues his regular maintenance runs and incorporates occasional workouts and yoga classes at Bally's Health & Fitness.

"I don't have a routine gym schedule," he says. "I've integrated being fit into my lifestyle."

Having completed his last marathon in 5 hours and 11 minutes, he says improving his time is not his main goal. "I'm running to finish the race."

Holcomb credits his running partner, Holly Rapport, with helping him stay on course. "[Holly has] always been active and physically focused. I don't know if I'd be running as much without her."

Rapport, who will also be running in the New York marathon, feels the same about Holcomb.

"I dedicated my first marathon to him," she says. "I'm always in awe of his drive and determination."

Both runners are lucky to have gotten spots in the race. The marathon is so popular, entrance is determined by a lottery system and thousands are turned away.

"I guess it was kind of fate that we both got in," Rapport says.

Of course, there are certain health concerns for HIV-positive runners. Dehydration and fatigue are particularly dangerous for people with compromised immune systems.

Holcomb has been fortunate enough to find a combination of medications that have kept him healthy, and he regularly consults a doctor.

"Sure, I feel vulnerable because of my status, but I'm not afraid to push myself," he says. "I don't want to just be a survivor - I want to live my life."

Training, he believes, helps him pay better attention to his body in general.

Holcomb incorporates his worldview as a person with AIDS into many of his paintings. "Shedding Life" (1997) depicts a male figure looking distraught while holding a lifeless body. His ongoing series, "Looking for a Cure," connects AIDS to a broader perspective.

"Structurally, it's connected to the fact that I do have a life-threatening disease," Holcomb says. "I imagine sometimes that I'll pick up the newspaper and see a headline like 'Cancer cured.'"

The idea of curing disease, Holcomb says, is related to the larger concept of change. He sees running as being very connected to this philosophy.

"I identify more with people who want to make change, to find solutions, than to people whose first reaction is to go to war," he says.

With a degree in biology from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., he would rather see society fight "the war against organisms that are alien to the body."

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