WHEELING — The Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend sponsored by WVU Medicine concluded Sunday after two days packed with fitness activities and fun.

Sunday kicked off at noon with the annual Tough As Nails Urban Challenge event, a challenging race and obstacle course for the more hard-core fitness Friendly City visitors.

Participants completed the 5-mile, 20-obstacle challenge that includes everything from scaling walls to climbing stairs and lifting heavy objects.

Eric Anderson, the Tough As Nails race director and publisher of the Tyler Star News, Wetzel Chronicle and Green Tab, said as the race continues to grow, excitement builds, too.

“The crowd is just super pumped. They’re looking forward to the different obstacles. The runners are excited because they know there’s going to be some new twists and turns. It’s just a great community event with a lot of supporters and a lot of volunteers that make it happen. It’s great for the city of Wheeling and Ohio Valley,” Anderson said.

He added that the addition of Tough As Nails to the weekend has been a major draw for athletes.

“The Tough As Nails has definitely helped build the weekend and continues to be a major draw for the whole Wellness Weekend,” he said. “It has added to a great mix that makes it fun for the whole family. They just like the uniqueness of it. You’re running over different things, through things, carrying things. There’s so much variety in it that it makes for a great event.”

Jim Spanner, general manager of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, said the weekend went great overall, noting that the community lucked out with beautiful weather.

“We’re excited to be able to bring this to the people of the valley. The weather has been perfect. We had a great turnout for all of our events, and it culminated with the live band,” he said. “We’re really grateful and appreciative of everyone coming out.”

Spanner also said he appreciates the hard work on the part of the many employees, volunteers and sponsors that made the event possible.

“We want to thank our sponsors. We want to thank all of our volunteers, and I especially want to thank the staff of the newspapers whose long, hard work made this all happen. We’re excited about how the weekend went,” he said.

Spanner said the variety of the events during the Wellness Weekend, from Tough As Nails to the newest dog walk event Rovers on the River, provides something for everyone, and he said it is a great time for Ohio Valley residents to come together and appreciate the simple things.

The weekend is a time where the community can “all come together and appreciate the basic ,simple things that we do like physical fitness or listen to music,” Spanner said.