Thousands of flag-waving Tucsonans turned out Sunday to cheer on 49 local heroes who made history by carrying the Olympic flame through the Old Pueblo for the first time.

Olympic torchbearers such as Jim Valiton were thrilled at the crowds that swelled up to five-deep in some areas as the flame was paraded through town under a police escort.

The flame is on its way to Salt Lake City for the Feb. 8 start of the Winter Games.

"It was overwhelming, the support on that street," Valiton, who has lived with the human immuno-deficiency virus for 16 years, said of the throngs of spectators.

"You just go 'wow' - that is when you know it is real."

At least 1,000 people packed the platform of the Downtown Amtrak train depot at 10 a.m. to welcome the Salt Lake City 2002 train, which carried the flame on a blue cauldron car under a chamber-of-commerce blue sky.

"It was really awesome seeing the train coming up with this flame on the back," said Lynn Sherbin, who traveled from New River to witness the spectacle.

After a brief ceremony, torchbearer number 001, local physician Lenn Ditmanson, lighted his torch from the train cauldron and carried it a few hundred yards before passing it along to be carried through Downtown Tucson and east on Broadway.

"To carry the torch at all is an honor, but to be able to light it like that makes it even more special," said Ditmanson, who was nominated as a torchbearer for his work with AIDS and geriatrics patients.

Photos by David Sanders / Staff Dennis Minano runs with the Olympic flame on Broadway past cheering spectators. Thousands more were waiting at Reid Park to celebrate the first half of its Tucson visit. Spectators along Speedway cheer on the Olympic torchbearers as the flame is carried west through the Tucson Mountains.

Twenty-five torchbearers later, an estimated crowd of 8,000 people cheered as Noel Elliott, who donated a kidney to his brother, former UA and NBA basketball star Sean Elliott, carried the flame to the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park.

After a half-hour break, the flame was carried out of the park by Ara Parseghian, grandson and namesake of the Notre Dame football coaching legend.

It was carried north on Country Club Road to Speedway, where it would travel west through Gates Pass before looping back on Kinney Road and Ajo Way and joining a caravan to its next stop in Phoenix.

Along the way, thousands of people - many waving American flags or decked out in red, white and blue - jostled for position and craned their necks to see the flame handoffs.

Roving hawkers sold commemorative T-shirts, flag visors, Olympic and American flags, and red-white-and-blue- beaded necklaces.

For Valiton and other torchbearers, the historic trek started under a tight schedule at 9:46 a.m. at O'Rielly Chevrolet, where tour officials from sponsors Chevy and Coca-Cola did some last-minute coaching.

One reminder, Valiton said, was to make sure to give the torch to the "gas man," a tour official who turns on the fuel flow in each torch just before the flame is to be lighted.

"They said when the man comes, give him your torch - he'll give it back. They've had people who wouldn't let go of that torch so they could turn it on," he said.

From the auto dealership, the torchbearers were transported on buses that became part of the flame caravan.

Valiton said he felt "more honored than nervous" before boarding the bus, until the gravity of the moment began to take hold.

"I did fine until the guy on the bus said, 'I want you to remember that when you walk down the street with that flame, you are the only person on the planet holding the Olympic flame,' " he said.

Valiton's next wave of nerves hit when he saw the crowd of his supporters - more than 150 strong over the short block on Speedway between Treat Avenue and Tucson Boulevard.

Along with American flags, many of Valiton's supporters waved rainbow-colored flags symbolizing gay and lesbian pride.

When the time came, Valiton was dropped off at his relay point minutes ahead of his relay partner. His relay leg went off without a hitch, but the experience was somewhat of a blur amid the cheering crowd.

Valiton has for three years worked as a part-time office administrator at the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, known as TIHAN, a nonprofit group that works to raise the awareness of HIV and AIDS and to provide volunteer support for patients through local churches.

He was nominated by his partner, Dave Fredricks, who works as a TIHAN volunteer.

The theme engraved on each torch - "Light the fire inside" - holds significance for Valiton, who has had to draw on his inner strength to keep his HIV from developing into AIDS.

Valiton said he hopes his participation in the Olympic torch relay will raise awareness and support of HIV issues and, perhaps more importantly, inspire others with HIV to carry on in the face of a deadly disease.

"We've been told we're going to die for so many years that being told they're going to live is a scary prospect," Valiton said. "I just hope I can give them some inspiration to get through the next day."

Another torchbearer, Yetta Watson, also said she hoped that her participation despite her disability with dermatomyositis, an incurable muscle disease, would inspire others with disabilities to press on.

"The reason I'm doing it is you don't take 'no' for an answer - you can do anything," said a beaming Watson, who rose from her electric scooter to walk 50 yards of her segment.

While the torchbearers hoped their stories would inspire others, some said they were inspired to see the patriotism in the aftermath of September's terrorist attacks.

Ditmanson said he was proud to carry the Olympic flame as a symbol of peace in troubled times.

"I think it's really brought us together again," he said. "It's a wonderful community, and it gives a chance to get out and see how close we are as friends and neighbors."

* Contact David Wichner at 573-4181 or at wichner@azstarnet.com.