PORTLAND, OR. Joe Krajewski of Clark County had a lot on his mind as he prepared for the 2023 Hood to Coast Relay at Duniway Raceway in southwest Portland.
“Every inch of this track brings back so many memories,” Joe Catonou said. These memories belong to his son Will. “He’s fun to run around and hang out with.”
In 2012, Will and Joe worked together to bring Hood to the coast. Will was so determined to take part that his parents signed him up as soon as he was old enough.
“We had to wait until he turned exactly 13, so on March 26, the night before he turned 13, we actually threw a New Year’s Eve party. We counted down the days and then I invited him to join the midnight team,” Joe said.
Joe said Will had a great time. His favorite part was the final stretch to the finish line near the ocean, where thousands of people cheered him on. “This kid was so excited to go over each leg, even at night, that it was very unnerving,” Joe said.
Will was looking forward to running again in 2013, but six weeks later he was diagnosed with bone cancer and never ran again.
So, Will’s family and friends formed Team Willpower and organized Hood to the Coast for him. Over the next two years, Will’s pictures remained clear. But in 2015, doctors discovered that the cancer had spread to Will’s lungs. Over the next nine months, Joe says, they tried every treatment available. None of them have a job.
Will Krajewski died at home in his father’s arms on August 22, 2016. He was only 17 years old. Four days later, Team Willpower arrived at the starting line from Hood to the Coast at Mount Hood.
”He passed away on Monday morning around 9am and the first words my wife and I said around 9:01 was ‘You need to get from Hood to the coast’ so there was never a question of not running.” – said Joe.
“In the middle of the night in 2016, as I was driving from Hood to Coast on Highway 30, heading to St. Helens, I saw huge chalk letters on the road that said “Go Will Power.” It seemed like he was everywhere. . Other teams have his name written on his arms or on the back of his calves. It’s just amazing,” Joe said.
“I think first of all I have to thank him (Will). I think he made me a braver person,” said team member Liz Marks. Liz is a social worker on the OHSU Child Psychiatry team and has worked on the Willpower team for some time. She said she has friends and family members battling cancer.
Team member Robin Shrout, an OHSU pediatric emergency room nurse, lost her mother to cancer when she was 15 years old.
“I think it’s really cruel. Parents lose their children, children lose their parents, it’s unforgivable,” Robin said.
The Will Power team, committed to beating cancer for good, expects to raise more than $20,000 this year, and has raised a total of about $80,000 over the past decade.
Joe told us: “I had no reason not to give up. He never gave up the fight against cancer. His favorite line was “Never tell me the odds” from Star Wars. He didn’t want to know what his chances of success were. “Survival was. How many years. He just wanted to keep trying, so when the runs were really hard, sometimes it hurt, and sometimes it was the middle of the night or it was raining, it was like, ‘Okay, I have no excuse because Will is fighting cancer.’ , I can handle it”.
According to race records, 2012 was the only time Weir started at Hood Shore, but that was not the case.
A small jar filled with Will’s ashes was carefully passed from runner to runner, and Will has been running down Mount Hood, along the Portland waterfront, and onto the beach in Oceanside ever since. Get up and run towards the cheering crowd.
Post time: Dec-21-2023