Dr Pat Castle
Episode 210
6 FEB 2023
He has raced in 25 marathons since 1990. Over a twenty-ONE-year span, he was the fastest person on every base he was stationed — nine assignments — based on the Air Force aerobic fitness test (1.5 miles), and in 2010 he was the Scott Air Force Base Athlete of the Year, chosen out of 3,500 airmen. From 2007-2009 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he coached the cadet marathon team and competed. Previously at the Academy, as a cadet athlete, he coached the squadron boxing and cross-country teams to the Academy championship. Back in his high school days he was captain of the track and cross-country team AND top distance runner. He is the President and Founder of LIFE Runners, the world’s largest Pro-Life team.
Notable guest quotes:
“I did have a traditional Catholic upbringing. I… graduated from O’Gorman Catholic High School.”
“I just kind of found that I had – ya’ know, the parable of the talents – that I had a talent for distance running.”
“It’s redemptive; I found that there was a lot of character building in the suffering of, most athletes, running is a punishment for their sport or something they have to do to get conditioned. And so there really is a lot of sacrifice, especially with distance running and I found it to be very spiritual. I have great prayer time… I found it to be very character building and faith enhancing.”
“And I thought, ‘Geez, that’s what Jesus preached: integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do.’ And so that really threaded nicely into my heart for serving the Lord.”
“I label that redemptive suffering. It’s not suffering just for suffering’s sake. It’s not suffering for just, ‘Oh, let me see if I can get one more second off my personal best.’ It’s suffering for redemption, that you are making this holy. That you are tying prayer intentions to that suffering and just offering it up.”
“We were prayerful… we prayed before our events.”
“What is inspiration? It’s in spirit, in holy spirit. It’s powerful when you tap into the real meaning of being INspired in spirit.”
“The values of the LIFE Runners ministry that I lead, our apostolate is God first, life always, teammates forever.”
“I had two audible encounters with (St. Padre Pio). I finished the race. And, of course, I’m sure listeners are wondering, ‘Wow, did you see him?’ Did not (see) – heard him!”
“All things holy involve encouragement. You think about it, any miracles, any holy encounter, it’s encouraging. People are encouraged when they’re in spirit, when they’re with God.”
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