I, like most here, did not know him personally at all.
But his words were always poignant and you felt like you knew him.
Every time you saw him post, you were just glad to see the writing continue.
And you feared that the writing would stop.
It is sad to realize that the writing has stopped.
This is sad news. My Nephew died the 23rd after fighting brain cancer for 4 years. The end was very sudden. It's worse since he was only 20 years old..
Enjoy every moment people, every moment...
Very sad, indeed. God rest his soul and comfort his family.
So damn sad. Cancer is the Devil, if there is one, incarnate. Battling a supposedly incurable sort myself, I've been quietly watching Will's thread. As a running community, the support bonds can make a huge difference in how one gets thru this fight. I'm sure Will felt that uplifting support. People on this board , myself at times, can be cruel from their remote anonymous electronic perches, but let's all pledge to use our collective consciousness for people like Will this next year.
will lived in an area of NE texas very near my family. last year while visiting for the christmas holidays i neglected to take advantage of an opportunity to visit with him. though i knew things weren't going well for him, i was still looking forward to getting to see him to make up for last year. though i wouldn't say will and i were close friends, he was a truly unique individual with a bright outlook and an especially poignant love for running.
make and take the time to stay in touch.
I knew of him as a letsrun poster for many years but didnt really know much about him, then I saw a post of his from not too long ago where he mentioned that he wasn't 100% truthful about something in his running past. That immediately struck me, because I thought it was very honorable to come clean about it. He had my respect after that.. Ever since that post, I was drawn to his story and hoped for the best. It was nice to see him fighting until the end.
Check out GcMAF. You can get it from Europe (www.bgli.nl), England (www.gcmaf.eu), and Dr. Marco Ruggiero in Florence, Italy, sells a yogurt form of it, or you can learn to make your own. I started making Ruggiero's probiotic form, MAF 314 in my home. I drove my alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (nagalase), which is universally high in CFIDS, AIDS, and cancer patients, from 4.2 down to 0.6, basically normal. My CD4 count rose by 24% and my NK counts rose as well after only a month. I still suffer neurocognitive malaise, but cancer is a different beast. There are alternatives to or, at least, adjunctive therapies with to go alongside slash, burn, and poison, whereby, you don't hurt healthy cells.
http://www.gc-maf.de/en/home/40-nagalase-alpha-n-acetylgalactosaminidase-in-blood.html
I'm sorry cancer guy is gone. May God bless him and his family. May all of you struggling with a chronic affliction find hope and effective therapy.
Thanks this is wonderful.
Nappy Roots wrote:
It took me a couple of days to gather my thoughts and emotions, as Will and I were very close friends during my time in Baton Rouge. We were also training partners for a while, running around a soccer complex or the BR lakes sharing stories about life as men in their early 20's do. I remember vividly when he mentioned being interested in a young lady named Kerri. And if you knew anything about Will at that time, he seemed to have the same sense of calm resolve about the good and the bad. So when he mentioned Kerri during a 5am run, I knew he was serious and was already in the planning stages of their marriage. I will never forget how convinced he was that she was the lady for him and how he had already envisioned growing a family with her. They did get married and had beautiful children. Like most runners, we discussed so many aspects about life while running and found that we had so much more in common than not. We supported each other in every aspect and I continue to respect him tremendously. I eventually moved from the Baton Rouge area and life landed him in Texas, but we always kept in touch up until his last hospital visit.
Will has a legacy, as we will all leave behind. And like us all, that legacy is contigent upon our own individual interpretations of our unique experiences with him. To me, Will was an incredibly spiritual person, loving son, father, and husband. He fought this cancer with all his might and shared the tragedy of this terrible illness with the world. Will and his family allowed us, all who chose to, to witness every step of the ugly fight against cancer. He laughed, cried, and shared his fears publicly.
Will also loved running and everything about it. He posted here regularly and was a major contributor to this site. He remains one of the most knowledgeable individuals I've ever met who could go in-depth about a broad range of topics: politics, spirituality, social ideology, and economics. However, he lit up when given the opportunity to share his passion for running. I can't think of anything he would not do to help any runner on any level get better if he could. With such little natural talent specific to running, he truly put as much energy as possible into making himself a better runner and person. I always got the impression that running and spirituality were deeply woven into his DNA that seemed to keep him grounded, yet transcending beyond social problems.
I admire Will now more than I did before. Even in his passing, I have learned from him. He has reminded me that it's not what you do in this life, it's not how much or little you owned, but your legacy lies in how much you loved others, how you demonstrated that love, and how much you gave unselfishly.
Agreed. This was great. Thanks NR.
crazy person wrote:
Thanks this is wonderful.
Nappy Roots wrote:It took me a couple of days to gather my thoughts and emotions, as Will and I were very close friends during my time in Baton Rouge. We were also training partners for a while, running around a soccer complex or the BR lakes sharing stories about life as men in their early 20's do. I remember vividly when he mentioned being interested in a young lady named Kerri. And if you knew anything about Will at that time, he seemed to have the same sense of calm resolve about the good and the bad. So when he mentioned Kerri during a 5am run, I knew he was serious and was already in the planning stages of their marriage. I will never forget how convinced he was that she was the lady for him and how he had already envisioned growing a family with her. They did get married and had beautiful children. Like most runners, we discussed so many aspects about life while running and found that we had so much more in common than not. We supported each other in every aspect and I continue to respect him tremendously. I eventually moved from the Baton Rouge area and life landed him in Texas, but we always kept in touch up until his last hospital visit.
Will has a legacy, as we will all leave behind. And like us all, that legacy is contigent upon our own individual interpretations of our unique experiences with him. To me, Will was an incredibly spiritual person, loving son, father, and husband. He fought this cancer with all his might and shared the tragedy of this terrible illness with the world. Will and his family allowed us, all who chose to, to witness every step of the ugly fight against cancer. He laughed, cried, and shared his fears publicly.
Will also loved running and everything about it. He posted here regularly and was a major contributor to this site. He remains one of the most knowledgeable individuals I've ever met who could go in-depth about a broad range of topics: politics, spirituality, social ideology, and economics. However, he lit up when given the opportunity to share his passion for running. I can't think of anything he would not do to help any runner on any level get better if he could. With such little natural talent specific to running, he truly put as much energy as possible into making himself a better runner and person. I always got the impression that running and spirituality were deeply woven into his DNA that seemed to keep him grounded, yet transcending beyond social problems.
I admire Will now more than I did before. Even in his passing, I have learned from him. He has reminded me that it's not what you do in this life, it's not how much or little you owned, but your legacy lies in how much you loved others, how you demonstrated that love, and how much you gave unselfishly.
I didn't update the site on Christmas and I just saw the news about Will and send my thoughts and prayers to his family.
I met Will in October and was blown away by his grace and desire to help others as he was fighting for his life.
I was hoping to write a piece on Will and Ken Martin by the 29th when I'm going out of town for 2 weeks. I can't believe he won't be around to read it.
I'll turn it more into a tribute piece on Will, so if anyone has anything they want to email me, my email is
I restored the other thread and am sorry for the accidental deletion:
My condolences to his family.
I didn't know Will Steele, but today is the anniversary of my father's premature passing (many years ago), so this thread stirred a lot of reflection--as did one from last year when he discussed returning to running after cancer treatment. I read through that earlier thread, the fear, but at the same time the hope that maybe he'd be able to come back--and the hope that others shared. And even though he didn't survive this cancer, somehow that hope remains real, present, life sustaining. We can only embrace the life we have, keep living it one step at a time, dare to believe in a future that might or might not happen, because doing so is part of being human, part of what connects us to life, to ourselves, to others. My father was not sick long, and as a doctor, he knew the prognosis, yet whenever he could, he tried to be present to us. As he weakened, there was such a strong spark, and that remains for me something to remember and cherish. I felt that in reading the thread that Will/ "Cancer guy" started. We don't know what's coming around the bend, but we have today, and that's what we need to make count.
Nappy Roots comments echo my thoughts about Will. Although we briefly corresponded years ago, we only began a friendship a few months back, and amidst all that was going on with him he was interested in how he could help me - a very giving guy for sure.
Will loved running. His Dad was his biggest supporter which meant a lot to them both. In college Will told me he trained to be the next Haile Gebrselassie, but he also loved music and practiced at being another Jerry Garcia, his youthful ambitions to become a 'Haile Garcia' is one of my favorite memories of him.
Will was a guy you'd of wanted in your running group or monthly card game, he would of been the first to offer to help you build a deck on your house, and would of been the guy who always had extra drinks to pass around after a long run - salt of the earth.
Ken Martin
Will definitely was dealt a very tough hand. You have to appreciate the courage he exhibited, and you also have to be thankful for all of our advantages/better luck/etc, and try to find the motivation to take better advantage of the little time we have here.
I'm assuming this is the same guy:
http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/2011/03/a-fathers-love-for-his-son.html
Sad.