Photo by Eric Ayres Chrystal Brudzinski from St. Clairsville gets ready to take on her fourth Tough as Nails Urban Challenge in downtown Wheeling Sunday as part of Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend.

WHEELING — Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine wrapped up Sunday when the toughest of the tough challenged themselves and each other through a concrete jungle in the mean streets of the Friendly City.

The Tough as Nails Urban Challenge drew hundreds of participants to downtown Wheeling on Sunday afternoon, daring die-hard competitors with 25 obstacles set up throughout a more than five-mile course through the city streets, into buildings, up relentless stairs and even into water.

Despite the physical and mental challenge the event presents, the atmosphere in downtown around the Tough as Nails is always electric, and the event is a lot of fun for participants and spectators alike.

“I’ve done it every year,” said Jeannie Cain from New Martinsville, who along with Richard Hinerman tackled the brutal course on Sunday. “We love it. We recommend it to anyone who loves obstacle races, combined with wellness.”

While some returning participants aim to beat the previous year’s time, most have one ultimate goal in mind — simply to complete the course.

“I want to finish, but he wants to beat his time,” Cain said of Hinerman. “We do Spartans, we do Tough Mudders, and we love this one. It’s great. It’s a really good obstacle course.”

Mother Nature failed to deliver the steady rain that had been forecast all weekend, and aside from a few sprinkles, the conditions remained a little humid but otherwise ideal for the race.

Cain said rain would not have mattered much, regardless.

“You’re wet anyway, so it really doesn’t matter,” she said. “They’ve got a new obstacle where they spray water on you with bubbles and everything. So rain is nothing!”

Climbing walls, ropes and stairs are another story, however.

“The steps are always awful,” Cain said, noting that she and her colleagues run other obstacle course races during the year, as well, but the Tough as Nails Urban Challenge is always a highlight.

“We’ve both done every one of them,” Cain said. “We love obstacle races, for one. Our entire gym does it, and it’s really a great teamwork-type thing, and of course, we do it for our health.”

Members of Prodigy Wellness Center in New Martinsville train for the event collaboratively, Hinerman noted.

“They have all kinds of classes, and everybody does their thing, and sometimes we’ll get together and run to train,” he said, adding that Tough as Nails is a unique event amongst others. “It is different because it’s urban. A lot of the other ones are out in the woods and in the mud.”

Many fitness clubs in the Ohio Valley keep the Tough as Nails Urban Challenge highlighted on their calendars all year long. One of the biggest collective representations at Sunday’s event came from OV CrossFit in St. Clairsville.

“It’s a big group of people. There’s probably around 30 of us,” said Michael Kasper of St. Clairsville.

The group truly stood out from the crowd, with dozens dressed in purple and black tie-dye shirts.

“My wife and I like to make tie-dyes — it’s just kind of become a tradition,” said Kasper. “We make tie-dyes for the group, and we just throw them on and come down.”

While the group assembles together at the starting line, they never stay together. Most end up separating throughout the course, with some sticking together and others fending for themselves.

But working out together and participating in the Tough as Nails every year has helped them build a special bond with one another.

“We all pretty much came together through OV CrossFit, our gym in St. Clairsville at the mall,” Kasper said. “Current members, past members — everyone has just sort of bonded through the gym, and that’s really what’s kind of brought us together.”

Like most groups of runners, some were veterans to the event and some were newcomers.

“We’ve got some that have been doing it since they’ve been running the event down here, and we’ve got some first-timers out here today,” Kasper said. “It seems to be something that’s grown a little bit every year.”

The course challenges participants with not just running, but also obstacles that test their strength and endurance. Dreaded obstacles like the Stairway to Heaven and other annual course favorites are always a challenge, and new obstacles are added every year. The mix makes it fun each year, veterans noted.

“The stairs seem to go on forever, and then you finally get done, and there’s like two more hills to run up,” Kasper said. “That’s consistently the one that seems to stay in the back of your mind as one that’s going to be tough.”

Some urban challengers enjoy tackling the course as a group, while others challenge themselves to beat the course.

“This will be my fourth time,” said Chrystal Brudzinski from St. Clairsville. “It’s actually a great workout, and I just like doing races. The obstacle course is a challenge. It’s more than running — it’s pushing you to your limits.”

Brudzinski said she makes fitness a focus throughout the year, and the Tough as Nails is an opportunity to put that training to the test.

“I do a little bit of HIIT training (high-intensity interval training), a lot of running outdoors — pretty much a replica of the event,” she said, noting that she was prepared for the stairs but was not looking forward to carrying the Bucket of Nails.

Otherwise, the elements seemed perfect for hitting the pavement with the rest of the competitors, she said.

“It’s beautiful weather and a great day to have an event like this,” Brudzinski said.

Some participants not only do the Tough as Nails, but also do multiple Ogden Wellness Weekend events, then push themselves even further.

Last year, Tom Haluscak of the Wheeling Fire Department and Josh Sanders of the Wheeling Police Department took on multiple events, but this year, they raised the bar even higher. Both completed the Ogden 5K Race last year, followed by the Tough as Nails the next day. This year, they both did the Ogden Half Marathon Classic on day one before taking on the Tough as Nails on day two.

They were both part of the OV CrossFit group, which has a men’s club that runs once a month.

“Some of the guys from the men’s club decided to ruck it wearing a 25 pound vest,” Haluscak said of the distance race this year — and he was one of the guys lugging the extra weight. “We upped it and did the Half this year. We ran probably half of it and walked the other half. It was just a great time, and great weather.”

Once again, the Urban Challenge was not the last grueling event on their Memorial Day weekend agenda.

“We’re doing the Tough as Nails, followed by Murph,” Haluscak said.

The Murph is in honor of U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in action in Afghanistan.

“The CrossFit Community worldwide does this event on Memorial Day in his honor,” Haluscak noted. “It’s a mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats and another mile run while wearing a vest — so we’ll do that together at our gym.”

With hundreds of sore but accomplished participants looking forward to a week of rest, most are already setting their eyes on next year’s Tough as Nails Urban Challenge, they noted.