T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Carl Kondrach prepares to compete in his 40th Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine.

WHEELING – After crossing the finish line Saturday, Carl Kondrach of Barnesville competed in his 40th out of the 48 Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classics ever held.

“This is my 40th race I’ve done of the Ogden, but I have competed in about 1,100 races, and I do roughly 100 a year,” Kondrach said. “I do some running, some walking. I’ll be walking this. I’ve won the Ogden five times as a walker and finished the top 10 of another six or eight. I love it. I was born and raised in Wheeling.”

Kondrach is a regular runner and walker, and he is very active in the regional race community, serving as a race director in his hometown.

He added that he hosts four road races himself in Barnesville and travels from Cleveland to Charleston to Columbus to Pittsburgh, competing in 5Ks and half marathons.

He said he sprinkles a marathon in here and there, but mostly competes in 5Ks.

Kondrach added that he’s slowing down a little bit as he ages but still loves the atmosphere and energy of each race.

“I grew up in the Children’s Home of Wheeling, and we used to do the aid stations for the race,” he said, “and I got so enamored and so hooked on the people coming barreling down National Road, and it was a big production in the paper, and they had all these nationwide runners, and they’re … famous, and we were all like just looking up in awe.

“I remember handing them water, and it was just so exciting to be a part of it,” he continued, “so I said I’m gonna do that, so when I was 11 I lied and said I was 12 because you had to be a minimum of 12 years old o get in and I did my very first Ogden, when it was called the Elby’s or the Big Boy or whatever, and I just I’ve loved it ever since.”