Pocono News Section

Injured Vet Becomes Marathon Man Despite Blindness

Injured Vet Becomes Marathon Man Despite Blindness - Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 04:08AM EST

Reported by: Mark Hiller
Sunday May 16 2010
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MONROE COUNTY - A marathon run in the Poconos, Sunday, helped benefit the Red Cross Chapter of Monroe County. The race from Tobyhanna to Stroudsburg drew runners from near and far -- including a soldier badly injured in the war zone.

Runners by the hundreds gave it their all at the annual Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon.

More than 800 registered runners made it a record turnout for The 26-mile race -- a magnet for marathoners who are looking for a change of pace from city running. "There's people from Texas, there's people from all up and down the east coast.," said Marathon Medical Director Dr. Bob Wallen. "People come to this marathon because word got out that it's nice to run in the countryside."

One of the runners is wounded Army Veteran Captain Ivan Castro. He was left blind by a mortar attack in Iraq in September 2006. He ran his 12th marathon alongside his personal spotter -- Lieutenant Colonel Fred Dummar. They finished the race in just over 4-hours -- a personal best. "Let me tell you. I was pushing," said Capt. Castro. "I was trying to get that under four but it wasn't meant to be, but a great, great event."

Lt. Col. Dummar had one end of a shoestring tied to his right hand with the other end tied to Capt. Castro's left hand. This allowed them to run side by side along the route and avoid obstacles. "It made for a challenging course today, you know, going around the potholes but I would nudge him with my elbow and he would dodge around it then I could pull him back."

And all along the route -- plenty of patriotic cheers. "All I heard was go Army, go Airborne. Very supportive," said Capt. Castro.

Marathons mean a little more to Captain Castro than compared to many other runners. It's something of a personal mission on the home front. "He really wants to show that, you know, even though he was wounded he can still do everything that he could before. So, to know that he's out there and serving as a positive role model for overcoming adversity," said Lt. Col. Dummar.

And leading by example -- every step of the way. Capt. Castro will lose his personal spotter in September. That's when Lt. Col. Dummar will be deployed to Afghanistan. Capt. Castro says they both hope to return to the Poconos in the future to do the Run For The Red side by side.