WHEELING — Those who finish the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic can feel both the agony and the ecstasy of the sport of running – pretty much at the same time.

There’s the ecstasy of knowing they’ve completed one of the nation’s most challenging half-marathon courses, as long as they can push past the agony of how their quad and calf muscles feel after tackling the hill-packed path around many of Wheeling’s neighborhoods.

One of the marquee events of the Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine, the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic will challenge runners and walkers for a 47th year. The weekend will be held May 24-25 in downtown Wheeling.

The Ogden Newspapers Half-Marathon Classic is the jewel among the events scheduled for Saturday, May 24. The half-marathon’s challenge, according to race director Joe Lovell, comes from the many hills competitors must climb and descend along the 13.1-mile course.

It’s not just the big ones like Chicken Neck Hill, 29th Street Hill and Wheeling Hill, he said. There are plenty of smaller ones that add to the quest.

Yet, Lovell said, the competitors wouldn’t want it any other way.

“They love running those hills,” Lovell said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say that if you change the course, don’t ever change the hills. That’s what makes it different than all those other races.”

The half-marathon takes runners and walkers through downtown Wheeling, into the neighboring town of Bethlehem, down into Elm Grove and through Woodsdale. One classic piece of the course, the historic Monument Place Bridge in Elm Grove, is back on the map after a one-year break so the bridge could be rebuilt.

The course took entrants down Junior Avenue last year, but this year, they once again will travel down to the bottom of Bethlehem Boulevard and hang a left onto the Monument Place Bridge.

The Ogden Newspapers Half-Marathon Classic run begins at 7:15 a.m. May 24, with the walk following at 7:30 a.m. There once again will be cash prizes for the open run and open walk categories for both men and women. In the run, first place is $1,125, with second place receiving $875, third place receiving $625 and fourth place receiving $375. In the walk, first place is $200, with second place $150 and third place $100.

While the cash prizes are enticing, Lovell said the overall experience of the race brings hundreds of people to the course each year,

“I went to a race directors’ meeting a month ago and everyone asked me, ’47 years, how do you do it?'” Lovell said. “I said, ‘Well, we just keep trying to do what we can to bring them back.'”

“The Ogden Newspapers Half-Marathon Classic is not just an anchor of the Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine, but an anchor of the events offered around the Ohio Valley each summer,” said Jim Spanner, general manager of the Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “To be nearing five full decades of this race isn’t just a testament of the many wonderful people who help make it happen. It’s also a testament to the competitors who are willing to take on such a challenge each year.”

There will be plenty more to do during the Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine. The weekend’s 5K Run presented by WVU Medicine Children’s will start at 7:45 a.m. May 24, with the 5K Walk, also presented by WVU Medicine Children’s, starting at 7:50 a.m. For the youngsters, there will be a Fun Run at 8:30 a.m. May 24 and a Tiny Tot Trot at 10:30 a.m., both presented by WVU Medicine Children’s. This year will also mark the debut of Rovers On The River presented by Play N Stay Pet Camp at noon that day.

The Tough As Nails Urban Challenge presented by The Health Plan will get rolling at noon Sunday, May 25. The Wheeling Heritage Trail Bike Tour will begin that morning, offering cyclists trails of 100 km, 50 km and 15 km to ride. The 100 km ride begins at 7:30 a.m., with the 50 km ride following at 8:30 a.m. and the 15 km ride going at 9 a.m.

To register for the weekend’s events, go to ogdenwellnessweekend.com. This year, organizers are offering a Tax Day special. For the 24 hours of Tuesday, April 15, registration for all races will be 15% off by using the code TAXDAY25.