Beyond the side-cramps, burning calves, and constant thirst for water, junior cross country runner Danny Castillo has to deal with severe asthma.

Respiratory problems and running usually don’t mix. When he was young, Castillo said running was a stress releaser from his academics.

However, his interest grew during the fifth grade. His teacher insisted that he should run the 5K in the Asparagus Festival to strengthen him for the many other sports he participated in. 

However, the race inspired him to run as a sport rather than as a work out.

“Not to brag,” Castillo said, “but I guess you can say it’s something I’m good at.” 

Running has largely helped Castillo with his asthma and has been a prominent health improver. Castillo has since been an active runner for five years. 

Castillo has had breathing problems since he was 1. His asthma has complicated his performance in some sports he’s able to participate in. 

“I’ve actually had series of severe asthma attacks especially during school.” Without being athletic in any other way, Castillo’s lungs would “burst up.” 

“(Cross country) is so physically demanding, you want to make it a way of life,” new coach John Hittle said. “It does require that drive and you have to stay on it all the time.”

Of 35 runners on the team, Castillo is the only three-year veteran, taking his role as captain. 

“I have the most experience on the team, and, no offense, even on the coach.”

Castillo says nobody on the team really knew about his asthma the first year he joined cross-country. It was until during one of his races that he was having bad breathing problems.

“I came in after the first race, pushing real hard to finish, and as soon as I was done, I collapsed on the floor.”

His previous coach became angry as well as worried. 

“He didn’t know what was happening and I didn’t know what was happening, until someone threw my inhaler at me.”

As a freshman, Castillo was really new to the high school system, and wasn’t aware he needed a physical to participate. His drastic fall was enough to disqualify him for that race and the two after. 

However, despite this, he was allowed to continue running his match. 

In the beginning of the season, the team’s former coach wanted five really good runners immediately on varsity, allowing flexibility on when students got their physicals. 

The coach was primarily focused on building the team and Castillo “was the remaining piece.”

Shortly after, Castillo made an appointment for his physical.

The physical examiners were in shock at Castillo’s eligibility to participate in the match. 

“They said to me, ‘I don’t know how you ran, I don’t why you ran, but you needed to get your physical anyways.’” 

His parents weren’t aware his asthma was that bad, Castillo said. 

During his eighth grade and freshman year his asthma had worsened with running because he never had to push himself that much before. 

However, “if I keep working out my lungs,” he said, “I will be able to control it better.”

This year Hittle feels as long as Castillo watches how he goes about his running goals, he has no limits.

Castillo’s increase in breathing problems has also led to an increase of spending for medication. 

He now takes three specific medications all having to do with his lungs. 

Castillo’s parents also take him to a nutritionist and personal trainer to manage his health.  “It’s basically just spending a lot of money to keep me alive,” he said.

This year Castillo was almost barred from joining cross-country because he is underweight. He particularly blames wrestling for his weight loss. “I had to drop, drop, drop, and I’ve grown into that unfortunately.”

There were times, Castillo said, when he would come home from practice and neglected to eat because of his determination to keep stability of his weight. 

As of now, Hittle said, he’s learned to manage his health and tries to maintain a runner’s diet of gaining protein the healthiest way. 

However, unlike his teammates, Castillo has also been advised by both his physician and personal trainer to consume four thousand calories a day.

Castillo works himself every practice, running approximately five miles, including the different distances, sprints, and hills the team encounters. 

“My parents had a problem with my athleticism,” Castillo said, “(however) they are very supporting and they’re as much as committed with what I do.”