Ain’t no mountain high enough
Marathoner Larry Teeter switches sports to raise funds to fight HIV

By NANCY FORD
Houston Voice
Saturday, May 20, 2006

IN 1994, LARRY TEETER WAS running along Buffalo Bayou, as the avid runner often did. The fact that he had been diagnosed HIV positive in 1989 hadn’t impeded his ability to maintain his energetic lifestyle. 

As he was running that day, Teeter noticed “there was something up” with his vision.

“It just didn’t seem right,” Teeter, 46, says. “I was familiar with the opportunistic infections associated with HIV; I’d heard about CMV retinitis and how it could take your vision very rapidly.”

He immediately made an appointment with an ophthalmologist, soon learning that his self-diagnosis had been correct. His doctor told him he faced a lifetime of therapy, saying that from then on he would be on intravenous anti-virals to treat the CMV, in order to keep his vision.

“Thinking of being on an IV for the rest of my life at that time was not really a good prospect,” he says. “I ended up losing all my vision in one eye because of that.”

With one prosthetic eye, Teeter doggedly went on to compete in and complete more than 80 marathons and ultra-marathons including the Western States 100 Miles Endurance Run.

“In 2004 alone, I completed 18 races of marathon length of greater, including five 50 mile races and the Western States 100 mile endurance run,” he says.

Then this accomplished athlete was told he was developing avascular necrosis.

“The head of my femur was dead and is eroding, so the pounding from running increases the chances that that’s going to deteriorate,” Teeter says.

His orthopedic surgeon told him was going to have to get a new sport, though he had always relied on running to help maintain a good quality of life.

So switch spots, he did. This September 15 through 17, Teeter will join about 150 others for a 275 mile bicycle ride from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Manhattan in the heart of New York City to raise funds for the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, a community-based organization in New York City that provides services to more than 5000 persons living with or affected by HIV and AIDS each year.

“Since I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the hip, I’ve been more interested in branching out from my running experience to something that’s not pounding my hip as much,” Teeter says. “I was looking for something on a bicycle and this came up.”

TO TRAIN FOR “BRAKING THE Cycle,” Teeter said he has participated in some charity rides locally in the last several months, the longest distance being 80 miles in the Katy area, called Tour de Cypress.

“It starts at Katy Mills Mall and goes up toward Waller and back,” he says.

But  the “Brake the Cycle” course will likely look far different than anything Teeter has become accustomed to in Texas.

The course starts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and goes through Amish country, winds  toward the Delaware Water Gap, into the scenic foothills of western New Jersey. then ending up at The Center right in downtown Manhattan, Teeter explained.

“It sounds like it’s going to be beautiful,” Teeter says of the ride. “The first day is like 90 miles, the second day, 110. The third day is shorter, making up the balance. We all congregate at the river on the New Jersey side and wait for everybody to come in. All the bikes and individuals will be put on a fairy and go across the river and we’ll ride the last couple miles together.”

But Teeter says he is most looking forward to camaraderie of riding with all sorts of individuals, communing with people with HIV disease and others just affected by the disease, “just being motivated to do something for the cause,” he says.

A biomedical researcher working in the field of infectious disease epidemiology at Houston’s renowned Baylor College of Medicine, Teeter explained the money-raising intricacies of “Braking the Cycle.” Its structure is unlike the much-maligned Palotta HIV fundraising cycling events of the ‘90s which drew criticism for returning only a small portion of funds raised back to its designated beneficiaries.

“In our recent conference call the Ride Coach indicated that typically about 65 percent of the funds raised went to The Center, and that percentage has been increasing each year,” Teeter says.

In its first three years, the riders of “Braking the Cycle” have sent more than $620,000 to support HIV and AIDS services at The Center in New York.

This ride also differs from other organized fundraising rides in that there is a cap for the number of participants.

“And they’re asking for larger amounts of fundraising for each individual involved —  a minimum of $3,500, versus rides where you have to raise something like $500 each,” Teeter says.

To donate to Teeter’s effort, go to http://www.brakethecycle.org/, click “donate now,” select “Larry Teeter #137” from the dropdown list of riders. Donations are tax deductible.

AS HE PREPARES FOR “Braking the Cycle,” Teeter recognizes that he’s been fortunate to come back an “end stage AIDS” diagnosis in the early 1990s to compete as an accomplished athlete. 

“But HIV robbed me of many friends, took half my vision, and inserted a five year gap in my resume,” he says. “ It also transformed my life, altered my perspective, and brought about a change in my career path. This fundraiser is a small way for me to give back to the community that has helped me and others to survive.”