GOING THE DISTANCE; 26,000 MARCH IN SIZZLING HEAT, MARK PROGRESS IN AIDS FRIGHT.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Glowing from a hot Sunday morning sun and renewed optimism and enthusiasm for a possible AIDS cure, more than 26,000 people marched through Hollywood in the 13th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles.

``Today we can see the first glimpse of victory,'' Paramount Pictures Chairman Sherry Lansing told participants as they prepared for the 6.2-mile walk on her studio's grounds. ``But our walk is not over. We simply are not there yet.''

The benefit raised more than $3 million for Aids Project Los Angeles, one of the city's oldest and largest private providers of services in AIDS cases, said organizer Craig Miller.

Officials paid special tribute Sunday to one of the marchers, a 13-year-old Studio City boy who has helped raise more than $100,000 by recruiting young participants the past five years.

The walk itself was the hottest in the event's 13-year history. Several dozen participants were shuttled back to the starting point because of heat problems, although none was seriously ill, Miller said. To help cool marchers, the city Fire Department sprayed water into the air above them.

The event is APLA's largest single fund-raiser, with about three-fourths of the proceeds going directly to fund 30 agency programs for men, women and children living with AIDS.

Actors Jamie Lee Curtis, David Hyde Pierce, Christine Baranski and Nathan Hall echoed Lansing at opening ceremonies, saying recently developed drugs have helped control AIDS in many people's lives, but many challenges remain.

Among other problems, the protease inhibitors don't work for about 30 percent of recipients, require complex regimens involving up to 40 pills a day, and cost as much as $16,000 a year, putting them beyond the means of many AIDS victims.

The drugs' long-term effects are not well-known, and they may become more toxic or less effective over time.

And even successful treatment brings its own complications, said APLA Executive Director James Loyce. The organization, with a $20 million budget, is straining to accommodate the needs of 6,100 clients this year, compared with about 5,000 last year, when it had roughly the same budget.

``Not only do we have more numbers (of clients), the services we have to give are more intensive,'' Loyce said. ``They need legal services, debtor-lender services, landlord-tenant services, benefit counseling to see what their insurance will cover. It's substantially different from what it used to be.''

The AIDS Walk presents its own logistical challenges: coordinating 1,800 volunteers, hundreds of sponsors, including the Daily News, and 26,000 participants.

The honored participant - 13-year-old Leo Beckerman of Studio City - was only 8 when he became so concerned about the ill health of family friend Jeff Jenest that he talked several schoolmates into joining him in the 1992 AIDS Walk.

Since then, Beckerman has talked more and more Valley youths into walking. There were about 180 this year taking part in his Kids Who Care group.

``I feel like I'm making a difference,'' Beckerman said. ``I really like the work. It's a real self-esteem booster.''

Kids Who Care raised more than $25,000 last year, 10th among all participating teams. The group hopes to raise even more this year and has already brought in more than $100,000 for APLA in its five years of work.

``All on his own, this kid made a decision and followed it up, with no help from us,'' said Loyce. ``Every year, he appears around Walk time with checks and with how many kids are going to participate. He is a hero, absolutely.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Thousands march along Melrose Avenue on a sizzling Sunday in the 6.2-mile AIDS Walk Los Angeles.

(2) Pushing his daughter Deja, 4, in a stroller, Joseph Carattini joins Joe and Angela Rodriguez in the 13th AIDS Walk Los Angeles. The couple's son, who was Carattini's uncle, died of AIDS.

Phil McCarten/Daily News