LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Bill Holden ambled unevenly down the road, a faded mesh Chicago Cubs hat on his head, a cold wind blowing in his face.

The Prescott Valley resident knows that what he's doing may sound crazy, but it's something he needs to do. It's all he can think to do.

A lifelong Cubs fan, Holden, 56, is walking from Arizona to Wrigley Field in Chicago, a six-month, 2,000-mile crusade that began Jan. 11. He hopes to raise $250,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

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Sometimes, when Holden's feet become heavy and his body tires, he thinks of one of his all-time favorite Cubs, Ron Santo, and of the disease that robbed Santo of his legs.

And he forges on.

He thinks of This Old Cub, the documentary about Santo, now of Scottsdale, that inspired Holden to take this walk in the first place.

And Holden, an elementary and secondary school teacher for 32 years, thinks about the diabetic students he once had in his class in Sacaton, a town on the diabetes-ravaged Gila River Reservation south of Phoenix.

"Somebody's got to do something," he said.

So he's walking, his stiff knees be damned.

DVD sparks idea

Holden's idea took shape on New Year's Eve when his son, Josh, gave him a late Christmas present, This Old Cub on DVD.

Holden watched the film. Over and over.

"I bet I watched it seven or eight times," Holden said.

Watching Santo become a double-amputee, Holden, who grew up in Elgin, Ill., couldn't stop thinking about him during his playing days.

He came up with the idea to walk to Wrigley. He bounced it off friend Greg Reisig, who has known Holden since their days at Southern Illinois University in the late 1960s.

"It was exactly the thing I expected out of Bill," Reisig said.

Holden contacted another friend from college, Mike Murphy, who has a radio show on a Chicago sports talk station. Murphy, a friend of Santo, told the old third baseman about the idea.

"I think it's amazing, I really do," Santo said. "I told him, 'Bill, why don't you drive? That's a little easier.' "

Holden said he was becoming burned out as a teacher and was close to retiring before deciding to take this year off.

"I think it's given him a chance to see a different side of life out on the road," Reisig said. " . . . People along the way have been extremely supportive."

Holden has also received generous financial support. The Verde Valley Medical Center was the first to contribute, pledging $5,000 and providing Holden a cellphone to take with him. Santo has made use of the phone by calling Holden every few days. So far, Holden has raised $30,000 in pledges.

Reisig and the makers of This Old Cub are part of Holden's support group. From his home in Elk Rapids, Mich., Reisig contacts news organizations in the towns Holden passes through.

From Toluca Lake, Calif., Jeff Santo, Ron's son and the director of This Old Cub, and Tim Comstock, who helped produce the movie, have coordinated Holden's trip, finding hotels and restaurants willing to contribute rooms and meals for Holden.

People in Camp Verde also raised money to cover Holden's daily expenses.

Holden is trying to average 12 miles a day, keeping south to avoid cold weather.

He has been through Globe, San Carlos and Duncan in Arizona, as well as Lordsburg, Deming and Las Cruces in New Mexico. He began this week in Alamogordo, heading east along U.S. 82 toward Artesia.

He stays wherever he finds a donated room, be it a hotel or in the back of a restaurant. When the day ends and he's between towns, Holden says he hitches a ride to the nearest town, stays the night, then gets a lift back to where he left off.

One of his biggest challenges has been transporting his 20-pound pack. A couple of times he has had to lug it along, but most times he has found someone - usually a state trooper - willing to shuttle it to the next town.

His only target is June 30. Wrigley Field. Cubs vs. Brewers.

Holden isn't in great shape, but he says he's doing fine. He's confident he'll make it. So is Santo.

"I tell him, 'Gosh, if you don't make it, you just trying to do this is something,' " Santo said. "But I got a feeling he's going to make it."

Positive responses

Holden says he has been overwhelmed by the reaction he has received.

Most poignant are the encounters with those whose lives have been touched by diabetes. Outside San Carlos, a truck with a Native American couple stopped alongside him.

"A woman was driving, and she motioned to open the passenger door," Holden said. "I opened the door, and she pointed down to the man's foot. He didn't have one. He must have had diabetes. She didn't say anything, but she nodded and gave me a quart of orange juice."

The road might seem a lonely place, but Holden says he feels others with him.

"I know it sounds hokey," he said, "but I feel like I've got all the Cubs fans in the country walking with me."

One morning last week, Holden finished his breakfast and slowly stood up.

"Let's go for a walk, huh?" he said.

And with that, he was gone, Las Cruces soon behind him, Wrigley's ivy in his sights.