Against all odds, Army captain runs Myrtle Beach Marathon

Some runners choose the Myrtle Beach Marathon for the opportunity to see the coast or the sights. For Army Capt. Ivan Castro, the goal isn't to see, but to be seen.

Castro is believed to be the first blind person to run in the event, but he doesn't want to spend his 13.1-mile journey in the half marathon gathering sympathy. Instead, he'd rather prove a point.

"I try to create awareness," said Castro, now a marathon veteran. "In some of these races I'm the only blind guy in a group of 30,000 runners. ... People don't realize we can run and how much more we could do with the right help, the right mentality and the right people around you to support you. There is so much we can do."

Castro, who is based at North Carolina's Fort Bragg, has learned that from personal experience.

As a paratrooper in the elite Army Special Forces, Castro's life and career changed forever during the battle for Iraq in 2006. A mortar round exploded a few feet away, causing massive shrapnel injuries and costing him his eyesight. Two soldiers died in the attack.

Castro spent much of the next year at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. His goal-oriented, type-A personality unshaken by his injuries, the 42-year-old set and achieved the goal of running in the Marine Corps Marathon a year later to honor the naval doctors who put him "back together again."

He hasn't been able to shake the marathon bug ever since, running in a number of 26.2- and 50-mile events with the help of a guide runner, who is tethered to Castro with a string and helps him avoid any potential problems along the course. Typically, Castro is side by side with his unit commander, Lt. Col. Fred Dummar.

"It's a tough job," Castro said. "I don't run in a straight line. I zig-zag a lot, and that takes a lot of energy out of me. When you see where you are running, you can run around it or step over it. The guide can't really tell me longer step or shorter step. You can't time that right, so it takes a guide that's looking 150, 50, 10 or 5 meters ahead to figure out where he'll have me run."

Castro is currently the only blind member of the Army's Special Forces. Unable to perform his former field duties, he is now tasked with finding and recruiting current soldiers to join the Army's unconventional fighting force. He also mentors other soldiers who have suffered major injuries, including the loss of eyesight, while fighting.

Castro's misfortune and sacrifice have ultimately allowed his unit to thrive, Dummar said.

"That's one of the reasons he's in the recruiting battalion," he said. "When we're talking to soldiers, it's important for them to see that when an organization says they'll take care of you they mean that. When they see a guy like Ivan, he's a representation of that.

"But aside from that, they see him and want to know what type of unit does he belong to that his commitment is still that high. He got injured and wanted to come back. They want to know what type or organization engenders that type of commitment."

Castro is also committed to running.

His entry in this weekend's marathon came about thanks to the Red Cross Rescue Racers team, the training team whose particpants earn donations for the charity.

"Lt. Col. Dummar contacted me after he could not get Capt. Castro and his guide entered in the marathon because [entries were] closed," said Angela Nicholas, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross Coastal South Carolina Chapter. " I had sold all my spots but one of my racers dropped out due to an injury and gave up his spot and his donations to Capt. Castro so he could enter and not have to raise the full $500 required to be on the team."

Castro will be joined by nine members of his unit at this weekend's Myrtle Beach Marathon. He said he simply wants to run a solid race after a bout of food poisoning cost him several weeks of training in December and January.

"We're going to go down there, we are going to run it," Castro said, "and then go party like rock stars."