It was September 2006 when Army Captain Ivan Castro suffered a mortar attack while serving in Iraq. The devastating blast left Castro permanently blind. Soon after, Castro found himself battling with anger and depression. He eventually met with a blind Marine however who helped him realize that the man he had always been was still alive.
As quoted from a recent Runner’s World story:
“A visit from a blind Marine two months after the attack made Castro realize that although his ability to see was gone, he’s the soldier, the leader, the guy who loved a challenge, was not. Castro, who had been a runner since high school, set a goal to finish his first marathon.”
As you’ll see next, he accomplished his original goal and then some. He’s already run 12 marathons since the attack.
Another inspiring video of Castro can be seen below:
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“Adversity introduces a man to himself.” – Thomas Fuller
Blindness has to be one of the most challenging disabilities to overcome. I’m not sure that I could cope with not being able to see the world anymore.
It kind of puts into perspective that the trivial stress and disappointment most of us go through hardly matters. Be thankful for all that you have.
Hi Ross! I really believe your blog is a very useful and motivational source in that ocean called Internet.
I would like to make a comment about an spaniard almost-anonymous who is challenging the impossible: to run one marathon a day during a whole year. He is now at 67 day (it means, 67 marathons). He has a very few sponsors (for sneakers, clothes…no money in fact), and he still works in a factory in his village, eight hours a day. All the donations are for ANFAS, an association for people with intellectual disabilities.
His name is Ricardo Abad, and he has a blog on blogspot (in Spanish, but with Google Translator…).
PD: If references are not allowed, sorry for the inconvenience.
Wow. That’s really incredible.
Very Motivational, really makes you appreciate what you have!
I’m gonna agree with Richard. I was complaining about a boring dinner party last night that lasted longer than I expected and used that as an excuse to cut my training time and intensity in half yesterday. You can bet I’ll be making up for lost time with some intense effort today.