Area athletes and athletes at heart will have an opportunity this weekend to lace up their shoes and help people affected by AIDS in the Athens area.

The third annual AIDS Walk/Run Athens will be this Saturday, with events beginning at 9 a.m. The race begins and ends at the Tate Student Center on Sanford Drive.

The event kicks off with a 5K and a 10K run at 9 a.m. A subsequent 5K walk begins at 11 a.m.

AWRA director Austin Hodge, a third-year finance and marketing major from Suwanee, said the group’s partner organization, AIDS Athens, serves nearly 300 individuals affected by AIDS in the greater Northeast Georgia area. 

“It’s the largest care provider in Northeast Georgia,” he said.

But, he said, many people think AIDS cases are concentrated in New York and California and don’t realize the number of people in Georgia who suffer from the devastating illness. A major goal of AWRA is to raise awareness. 

“Forty percent of the AIDS need in the U.S. is in the South,” he said. “But only 10 percent of funding goes to the South.”

The initial AIDS Walk/Run in 2008 raised $14,000 for AIDS Athens, according to the event’s Web site, and 700 people participated.

This year, the course has been measured and certified by USA Track and Field and is a Peachtree Road Race qualifier.

The organization’s activities are not limited to Saturday’s event.

Last fall, the group held a benefit concert and a “Just Know” week to raise AIDS awareness, and at January’s “Clips for a Cause” event, local hair stylists gave students and faculty cheap haircuts to raise money for AIDS Athens.

Hodge said the group plans to hold another awareness or fundraising event in March or April. He said the activities continue for the rest of the year.

The group is interested in recruiting new volunteers for the spring semester and next year, Hodge said. Those interested can find more information on the organization’s Web site.

Giridhar Submanian, a third-year international affairs and marketing major from Marietta, said he has been involved with AWRA for two years.

He said he started because some of his friends were involved, but has learned a lot about AIDS through volunteering and has become passionate about helping those affected by AIDS in the area.

“Georgia had the fifth highest HIV/AIDS incidence rate in the U.S. in 2007,” he said.

To participate in the AIDS Walk/Run this weekend, students can register in advance at the group’s Web site or on the day of the race at the event. Registration on race day begins at 8 a.m. at Tate.

Individuals pay $15 to participate, and the team rate, for up to 10 runners, is $100.

Those who cannot attend can donate money by visiting the group’s Web site.