“I Have the Easy Part”
By Joe Nuss
Army Captain Ivan Castro loves training.
“I love coming to work and running up and down the streets in the morning. I love hearing soldiers sing cadence. I love pushing myself and being part of a team,” said the Army Captain.
Hearing Castro talk about running is no different than hearing anyone talk about their love for the sport. When Castro talks about running, he talks about the warmth of the sun on his face, the coolness of the shadows he runs through, the smell of the pine trees at Fort Bragg, and the feeling of the wind blowing. Every step he takes, is instant feedback for his body. But, there’s one type of feedback Castro will never have again: sight.
Blinded by a mortar attack in Iraq on September 2, 2006, Castro’s life was permanently changed. Seconds after he decided to move his men off a rooftop, a mortar round sailed over his shoulder. As he turned and yelled for his men to jump, another round landed just five feet away and exploded in his face. The blast obliterated his right eye and cheekbone, tore muscles from his body, and collapsed his lungs. In an instant, the near 20-year special forces veteran who saw action in the first and second Gulf Wars, who embarked on peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo, and who helped train foreign military to fight drug cartels in South America was fighting for every breath just to live another moment.
Castro spent the next six weeks heavily sedated in ICU at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md. When finally weaned off sedation, Castro’s wife gave him the bad news that not only did the explosion leave him blinded, it took the lives of his two friends and troops, Sergeant Ralph Porras and Private First Class Justin Dreese.
At first, Castro refused to give up hope that he would see again. But, after getting second and third opinions from other doctors, both he and his wife finally accepted the reality of Castro’s new life without sight. That was the first time Castro heard his wife cry.
“It broke my heart,” said the veteran. “I was really down.”
Laying in bed feeling sorry for himself, Castro overheard two Navy nurses talking about the Marine Corps Marathon. Trained to collect intelligence on the enemy, Castro’s new personal mission was to start collecting information about the race. He started asking the nurse’s questions and keeping mental notes on the widths of the road, potholes, traffic, and other pieces of information about the race. He snuck in extra time on exercise equipment. He pretended not to hear the nurses tell him his time was up on the recumbent bike. He attached a CamelBak to his bed to stay hydrated while he exercised as often as possible. He tied pillows to himself when he first ran on the treadmill.
Eventually, Castro and a friend tied a shoestring together and tried running on a track. It took a couple of laps around the track before they learned to run together with the string. Castro jokingly refers to the string with the military acronym, “BRD, Whiskey, 1” or in other words, “Blind Runner Device, White, Count 1”.
Nearly a year later, Casto ran his first race just a few weeks before the Marine Corps Marathon. It was the Army 10-miler. Castro and his guide finished in just 1 hour and 25 minutes. A few weeks later, he ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 4 hours and 14 minutes.
Now, the 43-year-old Army Captain (still on active duty) fights for every step in a constant battle with the pain caused from his wounded body. But, that hasn’t stopped Castro from running more than ten marathons (including Boston), participating in the Bataan Death March event, cycling across Europe, and competing in an open-water swim triathlon.
“With all my injuries,” says Castro, “I feel pain. But, every ounce of pain I go through is a reminder that I’m still alive. But really, I have the easy part. I just put one foot in front of the other. The guide has to look ahead and keep an eye out for obstacles.” On March 20, Castro and his guide, Colonel Fred Dummar, will pace the five-hour running group at the Tobacco Road Marathon.
“I’m very blessed,” says Castro. “I’m really not the inspiration. It’s the people around me. I can’t run 10 meters if it wasn’t for someone else. I wouldn’t be on active duty if I didn’t have someone to drive me to work. I’m very grateful. I’m able to do the things that I do because I have a great group of people – true friends around me the support me and help. They’re the ones that allow me to do the things I so much want to do.”
