How A Baltimore Run Club Became A Movement
Anthony 'Cool Ant' Williams
Anthony ‘Cool Ant’ Williams is more than a runner. He wants to change his native Baltimore by harnessing the power of movement.
Anthony ‘Cool Ant’ Williams prides himself on bringing people together in his native Baltimore. Every step he takes, every mile he runs and every race he finishes all lead to the same desired outcome; to leave his mark on the world. To accomplish his goals, Cool Ant shared his passion to move with his community of Baltimore by starting a run club. What started as an idea between a few friends grew into a movement, as his run club took off from West Baltimore to the Harbor.
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From three people to hundreds, its success drove him to start the non-profit Neighborhood Hero. The organization was created to R.U.N.: Rebuild, Uplift and Nurture, with the goal of making Baltimore a better place for the next generation. Cool Ant has created quite the following, but he wanted to make an impact beyond his follower count. As he looks to make his mark on the world, he has turned to his passion of running to help turn his hometown into the future he wants to see.
Cool Ant’s passion for uplifting his community is one that doesn’t always come easy, but it speaks to him and drives him to keep pushing. “Being born and raised in Baltimore forces you to grow up fast. You experience a lot at a very young age, and it’s up to you what decisions you are going to make with your life. I love my city and see very clearly where the city needs help and where the city is succeeding. So, I’ve found my place in it. On my side of the city, it was worse than good. I just wanted to be the balance for my hood. I counter everything negative with a positive and hopefully that will trigger somebody else, causing a ripple effect.”
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“Running does something to the soul, man. It’s in your brain. It’s you against you. And I wanted to share this feeling with everybody.”
In addition to growing up playing multiple team sports, another part of Cool Ant’s passion to run is the inspiration he remembers as a youth. In particular, a local known to many around West Baltimore as “Running Man.” “I have to pay homage to ‘Running Man.’ I remember being a kid and watching this man run every day, all day. If you didn’t physically see him, you saw him on someone’s social media. You might see him twice in a day in two different parts of the city. ‘Hey, I saw the Running Man in West Baltimore.’ ‘I saw him in East Baltimore.’ ‘I saw him on Polanski Highway.’ The funny thing is that people make jokes now and be like, ‘You’re the new Running Man.’ I’m like, ‘Bro y’all don’t even understand. I’m doing this for y’all, but he did it for us.’”
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“The first run, it was three of us. Then six, then 10. Then it grew so much and was easily like 350 people. It was just word of mouth, people talking about how fun it was.”
More than anything, Cool Ant hopes his R.U.N. movement will inspire progress for the next generation. “When people see me, I want them to get motivated. I want them to feel like, ‘Dang, Ant’s doing that.’ When they see me outside of my norm, and adapt, and fall in love with these things, then it motivates them to step outside theirs. They get more in tune with themselves when they do that. It might not be running for some people. But it’s starting and giving yourself that chance to even fall in love with it. Or if you don’t like it, it’s an experience. It’s a win-win situation when you’re jumping out there and trying new things.”
