Photo by Joselyn King Steve Quickel, left, a fitness instructor at the Wheeling YMCA, is joined by son Ryan prior to the start of the Tough As Nails Urban Challenge in Wheeling on Sunday.

WHEELING – Young Ryan Quickel always watched his father battle fitness challenges, and Sunday the two joined forces to take on the Tough As Nails Urban Challenge in Wheeling.

The elder Quickel, 58, is a group fitness instructor at the Wheeling YMCA in Elm Grove. Ryan Quickel, 20, is a music industry major at West Virginia University.

Ryan Quickel noted he has been training at the WVU Student Recreation Center, gradually increasing his running distance to the six mile length of Tough As Nails.

“My dad has done this challenge for the past few years,” Ryan Quickel said. “I always wanted to do it with him, but it never worked into my schedule.

“I wanted to run with him today and have a good time.”

It’s not the first time the pair has bonded through fitness challenges. They competed in Mud on the Mountain at the Seven Springs Resort last fall.

Steve Quickel said he was very proud of how well his son fared at that event.

“He could have done it again,” he said of Ryan. “Me, I was looking for a cot afterward.”

His number one advice to those in his class who were participating in Tough As Nails Sunday was “don’t throw up.”

“I tell them to stay active, and just continue to train because everybody’s habits are different,” Steve Quickel said. “There are some things in this race you can’t replicate in training. There are different obstacles in each race, and we’re not here yet.

“You have to be careful. It’s easy to slant or fall and you can get hurt,” he added.