Blinded First Lieutenant Proves He 'Can Do This'

It wasn't 1st Lt. Ivan Castro's eyesight, which he lost in Iraq more than a year ago, that knocked him off his pace yesterday at the Marine Corps Marathon. It was his sighted guides.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

"His first two guides were women," said George Mannes, who held Castro's left arm as he crossed the finish line in 4 hours 14 minutes 10 seconds. "They both had to make bathroom stops."

But Castro, 40, was just happy to make it to the finish line. This was only his second marathon and the first since being blinded 1 year 1 month 26 days ago. He easily rattled the number off the top of his head.

"I've got a standard now," Castro said. "I've got a goal to beat next year. This is not the last. This is just the first. You're going to see more of Ivan Castro."

Castro, an Army infantry officer stationed in Fort Bragg, N.C., was blinded when his convoy was attacked while on a rooftop in Baghdad. He and two other soldiers were dodging mortars when one hit right in front of him, knocking him unconscious and instantly causing blindness in his right eye. Surgery to remove shrapnel claimed his left eye. The blast killed the other two soldiers.

"First and foremost, this was for me, to show my friends and family that I can do this," Castro said. "It also goes to show the spirit of a U.S. Army soldier. It shows what we're made of. Never quit, never say 'No.' "

The Running Wounded

Gunnery Sgt. Bill "Spanky" Gibson didn't like using a crank wheelchair during last year's Marine Corps Marathon, watching his fellow Marines run past him. So this year the amputee decided to run.

With the use of a prosthetic running leg, Gibson, 36, began running seven months ago and teamed up with a group of younger Marines in Team Semper Fi to run yesterday's 10K, representing other amputates from Iraq or Afghanistan.

"We try to set an example for new wounded Marines and anybody that is wounded or non-able bodied to maintain an active lifestyle," Gibson said. "I used to be a lot more athletic back in the day before I got injured, so it's important for me to just do it. I don't care what the times are like. I just want to complete it, be out with my men and do it."

Gibson has been in the Marine Corps for 18 years. He was shot in the left leg last year, and it was amputated in Washington in May 2006. He will be redeployed this January.

He's Still Going

Tim Borland, an ultra runner and endurance coach, completed his 56th marathon in an effort to run 63 marathons in 63 days, finishing in 3:45:16. Borland, 31, will run another 26.2 miles today in Montclair, N.J. He, a friend, his wife and two children under the age of 3 have driven more than 11,000 miles.

"We've been around the country, but we haven't seen the country," Borland said. "It's almost weird to me. I can finish a four-hour marathon and not be sore, not be tired. Even after today I could have kept running."