World’s Happiest Runner Nearing 100,000 Lifetime Smiles
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A local man who calls himself “the happiest runner in the world” yesterday reached his 99,987th running smile during an easy three-mile recovery run, Dumb Runner has learned, as he thought about a slice of apple pie waiting for him at home.
Anson Williams, 33, is expected to log his 100,000th lifetime smile early this week, becoming the youngest runner ever to reach that mark.
“I could not be more pleased,” Williams said in a video interview, smiling. “I mean, I’m pleased most of the time, but this really has me tickled pink.”
The road to 100,000 running smiles has been a long one for Williams, a high school math teacher who smiled just moments into his first ever run at age 15. He has been running and smiling ever since.
“I still remember the first smile I ever logged on a run,” he said. “I was passing a dog—a golden retriever puppy, actually—and, man, I was smiling ear to ear.”
From that point on, said Williams, he was hooked.
During his runs over the years, Williams has smiled at old couples holding hands, funny signs, motorists who give him wide berth, fellow runners, cyclists of all ages, road construction crews, and an estimated 8,000 other dogs.
Even bad weather has prompted a grin from the preternaturally pleasant runner.
“Just last month, I was about halfway through a 10-miler on a sunny day when a thunderstorm blew in,” Williams said. “It was awful—but it was so awful, I had to laugh.”
Williams said he’s not sure how he’ll celebrate his 100,000-smile milestone (or, as he calls it, “smilestone”) but he’s certain of one thing.
“I’ll be smiling,” he said. “That’s for sure.”
