For Anthony Clary, a health scare inspired a new journey that took him to places he never expected.
YOU KNOW THAT saying “every journey begins with a single step”? For Anthony Clary, 41, it was more like a run. The former college football player and a father of four had watched his weight creep up to 300 pounds, and was told by his doctor in 2015 that he was prediabetic.
“I’m a social worker, so I know what can come next with diabetes,” says Clary. “I thought, I can’t do that to my kids. So I decided I needed to get moving.”He joined a local exercise group based in Richmond, Virginia, that offered outdoor workouts with some running options, and soon discovered the running part was his favorite. “I had always associated running with punishment, dating back to my football days—I didn’t realize it could be a form of therapy,” he says. “It taught me to invest in myself in ways that I did not know I could.” During the first year or so of his new fitness program, Clary lost about 100 pounds while gaining a love of the activity from simply running throughout Richmond—over bridges, in parks, even on trails. “I found myself moved by being outside and discovering new places,” he says. “I was just out there moving. I thought, Hey, I get to go move today…so I’m going to move! And then we’re running through the woods, with me thinking, This is crazy—but I’m having fun!” Finding His StrideCLARY’S FIRST GOAL may have been to lose weight and reduce his diabetes risk, but that soon expanded. “My initial motivation was to just keep going,” he recalls. “I figured if I kept going, I would lose the weight, and it worked.” But he says he didn’t start calling himself a runner until his first road race in 2017, which a friend had signed him up for. “I had so much fun doing that. It was one thing for me to be out there running on my own, but being in a crowd, surrounded by other people doing the same thing, was totally amazing.”As Clary began to focus on increasing his distance and lowering his pace, however, he soon found that he was getting too caught up in the numbers. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be competitive, but what I quickly saw was I began to obsess,” he says. “And I realized I couldn’t do that to myself—because then I wasn’t going to enjoy it.”Instead, Clary, who goes by the nickname “Rock,” tuned into the camaraderie that surrounds the sport, doing his runs with a former teammate from college who would join him in the blazing Virginia heat. “He kept telling me, ‘You should start a run group,’ and I would tell him, ‘Don’t nobody want to run with me, brother. ’ To which he responded, ‘Man, why do you think I’m out here? Because I’m enjoying it!’”The two took a picture and posted it on social media, and soon others were joining them in what Clary started calling “Running with Rock.” Then came 2020 and the pandemic lockdowns. “Nobody had anything to do, so everyone started coming outside,” he says. “We went from one to two people, to five to seven, to 75 people all running together.” The group runs eventually expanded to hundreds of people, and Clary would find himself yelling out supportive phrases as everyone ran. One of his favorites was “We off the couch!” And then a lightbulb went off: “I realized, This should be the name of our group!” he laughs.Off the Couch, Into the CommunityTHAT WAS ABOUT four years ago. We Off the Couch now has more than 2,000 members, with 1,500 to 1,700 people showing up each week to take part in organized runs, including a women-focused “She Off the Couch” three-mile walk-and-run, as well as other two- and five-mile group runs. All of them are free, and everyone is welcome. More than 30 running coaches have signed on to lead the group runs, as well as give post-run talks focusing on everything from nutrition to gear. The group strives to remove barriers like race fees, and thanks to sponsors like Brooks Running, it also provides running shoes to those who need them.“We take running seriously; we love it. We train, we do everything,” says Clary. “But it’s also about being out there and supporting each other.” It’s this sense of community and support that he feels has driven much of the group’s success. “When you provide a place where it’s truly safe for people to come and be themselves, it just explodes.”We Off the Couch has continued to grow by increasing community engagement, as well as starting an after-school program to mentor at-risk youth. “We built the program like this because it works,” says Clary. “One of our runners recently said to me, ‘We do community—we also just happen to run.’”Showing Up FirstFOR CLARY, BEING able to do community is deeply personal. When he was 17, his older brother was killed in a robbery, and he began to put walls up to protect himself. But a mentor from his local community center was there for him. “I would cuss him out; I didn’t want to be around him,” he says. “But he kept showing up and saying, ‘Hey, are we playing football today? You want to go to a basketball game?’ It changed my life, it changed my worldview, and it changed the way I saw people.”Today, as a social worker who counsels youth, families, and unhoused people in the Richmond area, Clary continues to support his community. And with We Off the Couch, he’s introduced thousands to the benefits of getting out and getting moving while surrounded by others who feel the same energy.“At the end of the day, we don’t care if you come to us and become an elite runner,” he says. “That’s great, but what we really need is for you to be a top-tier human. When you do that, it collapses walls and removes so many of the barriers and boundaries that have been put up. You find that you are looking at the people moving around you, and you realize, That’s my family.” Going FirstWHETHER YOU’RE A brand-new runner or have been building your mileage for years, we are all always experiencing new things. Here’s Clary’s advice on feeling good with each “first” you face.If your first is…getting out for a runGhost 17, the latest edition in a favorite series. Just as important, he adds: “You need to believe in yourself. And give yourself some grace.”If your first is…doing a long-distance event Be patient. “You’re out there for a long time,” says Clary, who has completed eight marathons and one 50k trail run—and has plans to do a 50-miler at some point in the near future. It can also help to have a group of friends to do it with you, he notes. “I just hit up four guys from the group and said, ‘Y’all wanna run a 50k?’” he laughs. “And we just went out and had fun.”If your first is…trying to set a PRMusic helps! The first song on Clary’s playlist is always something upbeat. “It’s a lot of BPMs, but it gets me going and helps me keep a pace.”
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