The 45th annual Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine is in the books, with the two-day event to kick off Wheeling’s summer season going off without a hitch.

The weather cooperated to help make the Wellness Weekend a success, but it takes much more than sunshine and mild weather to pull off such an event.

It takes time and effort from everyone involved — race organizers, city leaders, law enforcement, the hundreds of volunteers and the participants themselves — to make this event work each year. And given the extraordinary challenges faced in 2023 — downtown Wheeling is a construction zone with the Streetscape Project underway, which caused the course for the Ogden Half Marathon Classic, the Fun Run, the Twin Pops 5K and the Tough as Nails Urban Challenge presented by The Health Plan to be altered.

It is a testament to all involved that the events went smoothly.

That’s what it’s really all about — giving the participants an opportunity to have the best time possible.

We would like to thank everyone who helped make the Ogden Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine a success. We’re already looking forward to next year, and we hope to see you then.